Continental champions Senegal in a bizarre penalty thriller and Ghana have bought the first African tickets to the World Cup in Qatar.
As in the Africa Cup of Nations final, Senegal beat Egypt on penalties in Tuesday’s World Cup play-offs, this time 2-0.
After 120 minutes it was 1-0, the Egyptians had won the first leg 1-0 with storm superstar Mohamed Salah from Liverpool FC.
Villarreal’s Boulaye Dia (4′) equalized the first-leg result for Senegal early on in Dakar. As the game went on, the conditions first became irregular and then bizarre, with hundreds of laser pointers making the Egyptian penalty area look like a disco. No guest player converted his penalty. Sadio Mané (also Liverpool) scored decisively for the African champions.
Nigeria in the valley of tears
Thanks to the away goals rule, Ghana was satisfied with a hard-fought 1-1 (1-1) in Nigeria after the 0-0 in the first leg. In Abuja, Thomas Partey (11th) scored with a long-range shot, Nigerian goalkeeper Francis Uzoho let the harmlessly kicked ball pass.
William Troost-Ekong (22′, penalty kick) equalised, but in the end Ghana celebrated their fourth appearance at the World Cup. Riots then broke out in the stadium.
Three more duels for the remaining African World Cup tickets were scheduled for later in the evening: Algeria v Cameroon (first leg 1-0), Morocco v DRC (first leg 1-1) and Tunisia v Mali (first leg 1-0/each 9:30 p.m.).