Cameroon or Ghana may be Nigerias’ next opponent in the 2022 Qatar World Cup playoffs scheduled for March next year
By Kehinde Okeowo
The Super Eagles’ reward for qualifying for the World Cup playoff, maybe a scintillating encounter against Ghana or Cameroon, two of their neighbors, and arch-rivals.
Nigeria could also get Egypt, DR Congo, or Mali, depending on the outcome of the draw that will be held on December 18, 2021.
This follows the completion of the African qualifying rounds in which ten countries that qualified for the playoffs, will now jostle for the five spots allocated to the continent.
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The Super Eagles are among the top five ranked African countries who qualified, others are Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, and Tunisia.
Egypt, Ghana, Cameroon, Mali, and the Democratic Republic of Congo made up the list of the ten qualifiers, but they are the bottom five ranked African sides.
The draw for the play-offs will pair one of the top five countries against one from the bottom five.
Therefore, Nigeria will likely play against any of the bottom five which include old foes Cameroon and Ghana.
The playoffs will be a double-header, as the teams will play two legs home and away to determine those who will be representing Africa in Qatar.
According to Soccernet.com, the best case scenario for Gernot Rohr’s men is a game again DR Congo , this is because Diables Rouges’s men are not ranked in the top ten in Africa.
Another opponent that the Super Eagles will relish facing is old rivals Ghana. It will be a battle between two West African giants.
Ghana are not the force they used to be and only managed to qualify for the playoffs on the final day, courtesy of a controversial 1-0 win over South Africa.
Although the favourites tag goes out of the window when two rivals collide, Nigeria will feel confident in their chances if they get to draw Ghana