Africa’s best go after Qatar spot

➳AFP Sport looks ahead to the five first legs today with Cameroon seeking a record-extending eighth appearance by an African nation at the World Cup and Mali hoping to reach the finals for the first time.

Egypt v Senegal

► Senegal coach Aliou Cisse says the Cup of Nations triumph is history and all that matters is securing a second straight World Cup appearance.

► “Winning the Cup of Nations is not an end in itself because we share a common goal of playing at the World Cup again,” he told reporters.

► With a “spine” comprising Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, PSG midfielder Idrissa Gueye and Sadio Mane, Senegal are well equipped to succeed.

► Egypt welcome back star goalkeeper Mohamed el Shenawy, who missed the Cup of Nations final through injury, but they were the second-best side in the African title decider and start as underdogs.

► The Egyptian media reported Egypt captain Mohamed Salah telling his team-mates after the penalty shoot-out defeat in Cameroon that “we meet them (Senegal) again next month and Inshallah (God willing) we will take revenge”.

Ghana v Nigeria

► Nigeria are favoured, but tradition suggests a close affair with each nation winning twice in previous World Cup qualifiers and four other meetings drawn.

► Both fared poorly at the Cup of Nations with Ghana shock first-round casualties after losing to minnows Comoros and Nigeria making a timid last-16 departure against Tunisia.

► Nigeria boast a stronger squad than they had in Cameroon with forwards Emmanuel Dennis, Odion Ighalo and Victor Osimhen now available, but injured midfielder Wilfred Ndidi misses out.

► Ghana fired Serb coach Milovan Rajevac after the Afcon debacle and brought in Otto Addo with former Newcastle and Brighton boss Chris Hughton assisting.

Cameroon v Algeria

► Hosts Cameroon fired Portuguese Toni Conceicao after finishing third at the Cup of Nations and hired legend Rigobert Song on the orders of President Paul Biya.

► Song has chosen most of the team eliminated by Egypt in the semifinals and there will be much interest in how he treats Bayern Munich forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.

► Choupo-Moting was furious at the not making the starting line-up against the Pharaohs and teaming up with captain and leading Cup of Nations scorer Vincent Aboubakar and Karl Toko Ekambi.

► Algeria suffered a disastrous Cup of Nations title defence, going out in the first round.

DR Congo v Morocco

► The Democratic Republic of Congo are alone among the 10 contenders in not having the benefit of match practice at the Cup of Nations – they came third in a qualifying group and missed out.

► It could be advantageous as Morocco will not have recent footage of the Leopards, whose only previous World Cup appearance was in 1974 when the country was called Zaire.

► However, it is no secret that Dieumerci Mbokani is the man Morocco must shackle after he scored four goals in qualifiers.

► Cup of Nations quarterfinalists Morocco boast a star full-back in Ashraf Hakimi, but Hakim Ziyech will miss out due to issues with coach Vahid Halilhodzic.

Mali v Tunisia

► Mali and Tunisia met at the Cup of Nations in Cameroon and a tale of two penalties ended with the Eagles from west Africa winning 1-0 after Ibrahima Kone scored and Wahbi Khazri missed.

► More close encounters are likely with Mali hoping to create history, and deny Tunisia a sixth World Cup appearance.

► A boost for Mali is the belated decision of Franceborn Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure to represent the country of his parents.

► Tunisia, who fell to Burkina Faso in the Cup of Nations quarterfinals, have recalled forward Taha Yassine Khenissi after he completed a six-month doping ban.