ZURICH: Nigeria will take on Gabon and Cameroon will play the Democratic Republic of Congo in the World Cup African playoff semifinals next month, the latest FIFA rankings have confirmed.
The four countries all advanced to the playoffs as the best runners-up across the nine African groups.
There is the possibility of an added slot for Africa at next year’s finals with the winners of next month’s playoffs advancing to an intercontinental playoff tournament in March from which the last two World Cup places will be decided.
The pairings for the African playoffs have the highest-ranked team in the FIFA rankings of October 23 playing the lowest-ranked, while the second-highest face the third-highest.
FIFA, however, issued the October rankings on Friday, earlier than it had previously scheduled.
Nigeria rose to 41st with Cameroon 54th and DR Congo 60th.
Gabon jumped two places to 77th from the September 18 rankings.
The semis will be on November 13 before a deciding match three days later, with the winners progressing.
Morocco is hosting next month’s playoffs but the venues are yet to be announced.
The group phase of the African qualifiers concluded on Tuesday with all the group winners qualifying automatically for next year’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the US
Pairings set for next month’s African World Cup playoffs
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Pairings set for next month’s African World Cup playoffs
- The four countries all advanced to the playoffs as the best runners-up across the nine African groups
- FIFA, however, issued the October rankings on Friday, earlier than it had previously scheduled
Real Madrid handed shock home loss as Celta Vigo spring surprise
- Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins
MADRID: Real Madrid suffered a shock 2-0 loss and finished with nine men against Celta Vigo in LaLiga on Sunday after Williot Swedberg scored an audacious goal with his heel and a second in stoppage time to leave the hosts four points off leaders Barcelona.
Swedish substitute Swedberg cleverly diverted a cross from Bryan Zaragoza past Thibaut Courtois in the 53rd minute to put Celta ahead and had an easy finish three minutes into added time, going around the goalkeeper to wrap up the points.
Real’s cause was not helped by the 64th minute dismissal of Fran Garcia, who picked up two yellow cards in 60 seconds, but they laid siege to the visitors’ goal for the last 20 minutes as Celta went into a defensive shell to hold onto their advantage.
Real defender Alvaro Carreras was also dismissed for two cautions, his second coming in stoppage time at the end of the game as the home side’s frustrations boiled over.
It was a second clean sheet in 15 league games this season for Celta, whose keeper Ionut Radu made a first-half save from Jude Bellingham’s header and stopped a second-half free-kick whipped in by Kylian Mbappe.
Real stay on 36 points from 16 games as Celta celebrated a first win at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in 19 years, leaving the Galician club with 19 points.
“With the team they have and their quality, it’s difficult to match them, but we read the game well,” said Celta striker Borja Iglesias. “We had possession, we played in their half, we played a fantastic match.”
Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins.
Xabi Alonso’s stuttering Real team have now won only one of their last five league games as they await the midweek arrival of Manchester City in the Champions League.
Earlier on Sunday, Espanyol moved up to fifth as Roberto Fernandez’s first half penalty handed them a 1-0 home win over Rayo Vallecano as both sides finished with 10 men.
Elche’s Rafa Mir scored twice as they ran out 3-0 home winners over struggling Girona, while hosts Valencia and Sevilla remained in the bottom half of the table after a 1-1 draw.
