World Cup
Match Day 5 lines up appetising ties in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers race
The race towards a place in next year’s FIFA World Cup enters a crucial stage as of Monday, 17 March when the African qualifiers resume across the continent.
The global showpiece will for the first time have a guaranteed 9 representatives and possibly a tenth in the newly expanded version set to take place in the United States between 11 June – 19 July 2026.
With four rounds of matches already played, Match Day 5 of the qualifiers has lined up some appetising encounters, as the race to a top finish that guarantees qualification gradually takes shape.
The action officially gets underway in Group E on Monday, 16 March when third placed Tanzania play host to Congo who are yet to register a point in their past three matches.
Four exciting fixtures take place on Wednesday, 19 March, with Liberia taking on top of the table Tunisia in Group H.
Cameroon will be looking at extending their lead in Group D when they take on bottom of the table Eswatini, while Central Africa Republic look to climb up the group when they take on third placed Madagascar.
Thursday, 20 March sees a total of nine mouth-watering encounters taking place across the continent. Some of the marquee fixtures to look out for on include Zimbabwe playing host to Benin, Malawi welcoming the Brave Warriors of Namibia who have had an impressive start so far, as well as Cape Verde taking on Mauritius.
Later on in the evening, Libya will be home to Angola in the tightly contested Group D, while the Eagles of Mali travel to Comoros to conclude Thursday’s fixtures.
Match Day 5 of the qualifiers concludes on Friday, 21 March with a total of 13 fixtures taking place.
With three draws and a loss to their campaign, the Super Eagles will be looking at securing their first win when they take on top of the table Rwanda in Group C. South Africa play host to Lesotho in the same group, as they eye a vital victory that could see them top the group should the result in the Nigeria and Rwanda match go their way.
In other exciting fixture to look out for, Group A leaders Egypt have a tough assignment travel to Ethiopia who are desperate for a win following three draws and a loss.
African champions, Cote d’Ivoire who lead Group F by a narrow point ahead of Gabon face third placed Burundi are also within reach of a top spot.
The Lions of Teranga will be aiming at nothing short of a victory to possibly go top of Group B ahead of Sudan when they face each other in what promises to be an explosive top of the table encounter on Friday.
FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Fixtures – Match Day 5:
Monday, 17 March
16h00 GMT: Tanzania vs Congo
Wednesday, 19 March
16h00 GMT: Liberia vs Tunisia
16h00 GMT: Eswatini vs Cameroon
16h00 GMT: Central African Republic vs Madagascar
16h00 GMT: Mozambique vs Uganda
16h00 GMT: Malawi vs Namibia
16h00 GMT: Zimbabwe vs Benin
16h00 GMT: Cape Verde vs Mauritius
16h00 GMT: Sierra Leone vs Guinea-Bissau
Thursday, 20 March
19h00 GMT: Libya vs Angola
19h00 GMT: Gabon vs Seychelles
19h00 GMT: Gambia vs Kenya
19h00 GMT: Comoros vs Mali
Friday, 21 March
13h00 GMT: Equatorial Guinea vs Sao Tomé and Principe
13h00 GMT: Botswana vs Algeria
16h00 GMT: Rwanda vs Nigeria
16h00 GMT: Burkina Faso vs Djibouti
16h00 GMT: DR Congo vs South Sudan
16h00 GMT: South Africa vs Lesotho
16h00 GMT: Togo vs Mauritania
19h00 GMT: Ghana vs Chad
19h00 GMT: Burundi vs Cote d’Ivoire
19h00 GMT: Sudan vs Senegal
21h00 GMT: Guinea vs Somalia
21h00 GMT: Ethiopia vs Egypt
21h00 GMT: Niger vs Morocco
-CAF
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Ahead of a potentially blockbuster World Cup qualifying duel with Rwanda on Friday, the Nigeria Super Eagles’ camp has started to bubble.
On Sunday, Eric Chelle, the new coach who will be having his first baptism with Nigeria, arrived at the Radisson Blu hotel in Kigali with the full complement of his crew, backroom staff and the two home-based players, Kayode Bankole and Papa Daniel Mustapha.
Victor Osimhen and Bruno Onyemaechi were on the ground with them. The number of players swelled to six early Monday morning with the arrival of Amas Obasogie and Tolu Arokodare.
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BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
As the countdown to Rwanda versus Nigeria World Cup qualifying duel begins, a certainty is that the two teams have a common denominator.
The men who handled them when they met last year have changed duty posts and African coaches outside their countries are handling both teams.
Both coaches, Mali’s Eric Chelle for Nigeria and Algeria’s Adel Amrouche for Rwanda will be sitting on the bench for the first time with their respective teams.
Who will be a winning debutant? The actions at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali on Friday will provide the answer.
No clash of the two teams had in the past provided a winner as all three previous duels in Kigali ended in draws.
This time, Nigeria’s Super Eagles are attempting a ‘catch-up game’ hoping to secure all three points to climb up the ladder from the bottom fifth position.
On the other hand, surprise group leaders hope to consolidate by going to 10 points to set a seven-point gap with Nigeria and follow up with another three points in the subsequent duel at home with Lesotho.
But a win by Nigeria will lower the tension on the Super Eagles who surprisingly have beaten Rwanda twice in 2004 in Abuja in a World Cup qualifier and again in Calabar in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
The storms are gathering as Super Eagles set to soar again.
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Rwanda’s Algerian coach, Adel Amrouche has named a 28-man provisional list of players that will face Nigeria on Friday in Kigali and then Lesotho on Tuesday on the same ground.
He will, however, prune the squad to 23 as the countdown to the encounter with Nigeria continues.
Midfielders Hakim Sahabo and Rafael York are among the returnees to the squad of the new coach.
Amavubi’s 28-man provisional squad, which was summoned by new head coach Adel Amrouche.
The duo’s last call up was on June 11, 2024, when Amavubi defeated Lesotho 1-0 in South Africa.
They were suspended from the team by former coach Torsten Spittler due to disciplinary reasons.
Also, back to the squad is attacking midfielder Djabel Imanishimwe who plays for Naft Al Wassat in Iraq.
The former APR captain hasn’t featured for Amavubi since February 6, 2022 when he played in an AFCON qualifier against Mozambique.
Other key returnees are goalkeeper Maxime Wenssens who wasn’t selected during Amavubi’s 2025 AFCON qualifiers as well as APR shot-stopper Pierre Ishimwe who has now cemented his place as APR’s number 1.
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