Final Stage of African World Cup Qualifiers At Halfway Point

We're almost to the 2010 World Cup in Africa, as the continent is now half way through their last phase of Cup qualifying.

Where do we stand? Let's take a look at the standings for the five groups.

Remember, the five group winners go to the 2010 World Cup. The top three in each group advance to the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola. Qualifying starts again in September.

GROUP A

				P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
			Gabon	2	2	0	0	5	1	6
			Togo	3	1	1	1	1	3	4
			Morocco	3	0	2	1	1	2	2
			Cameroon	2	0	1	1	0	1	1

In Group A, Gabon is the surprise leader over the likes of Cameroon and Morocco.
What's up with Cameroon? They've yet to score a goal! Get it together, lads.

GROUP B

	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Tunisia	3	2	1	0	4	1	7
Nigeria	3	1	2	0	3	0	5
Kenya	3	1	0	2	3	6	3
Mozambique	3	0	1	2	1	4	1

Tunisia has always had a strong team. Can they keep the Nigerians at bay? They play again on September 5th ...

GROUP C

	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Algeria	3	2	1	0	5	1	7
Zambia	3	1	1	1	2	3	4
Rwanda	2	0	1	1	0	1	1
Egypt	2	0	1	1	2	4	1

What's up with the Egyptians, reigning African champions? The Egyptians are disappointing again. Luckily, there's still time to get it together. I'd like to see a run from them in the World Cup. Until then, the Algerians are doing a great job at the top of the group, letting in just one but scoring five.

GROUP D

	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Ghana	3	3	0	0	5	0	9
Mali	3	1	1	1	4	4	4
Benin	3	1	0	2	2	4	3
Sudan	3	0	1	2	1	3	1

Group favorite Ghana is riding high. Can anyone catch them? Doubtful.

GROUP E

	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Ivory Coast	3	3	0	0	10	3	9
B Faso	3	2	0	1	7	5	6
Guinea	3	1	0	2	5	7	3
Malawi	3	0	0	3	1	8	0

Ivory Coast is doing exceptionally well. The surprise package is Burkina Faso, a mere three points behind the group leaders. Still, Ivory Coast just defeated their major competition and another three points would see them inch ever so closer to the 2010 Cup.

There you have it! For a full schedule of fixtures, please click here.

We're so close, I can almost taste it!

Latest Round Up of African World Cup Qualifying

We inch closer and closer to finding out which countries will represent the African continent in the first World Cup on African soil.

This weekend shed some light on which countries will make it - and which won't.

For a complete run down of the group standings, please click here.
The winners of each group earn an automatic place in the 2010 World Cup.

Group A

Surprising Gabon head the group with 6 points, 3 ahead of Togo and 5 ahead of Morocco and Cameroon.

Gabon easily handled 10-man Togo, 3-0 this weekend.

Togo were a goal down after just 11 minutes with Bruno Ecuele scoring and the Hawks were a man down after 40 minutes following the dismissal of Thomas Dossevi.

Roguy Meye and Moise Brou Apanga scored in the second half to complete a comfortable win for Gabon.

In the group's other game, Cameroon could only draw 0-0 against Morocco on Sunday.

Cameroon's Indomitable Lions have failed to score so far in the second phase of qualifying.

The next matches take place in two weeks time when Morocco host Togo and Cameroon travel to Gabon.

Group B

Tunisia defeated Mozambique 2-0 in their Group B encounter.

Lens defender Alaeddine Yahia scored from the penalty spot after 21 minutes.

Oussama Darragi, from Tunisian champions Esperance, was then on target for the Carthage Eagles with their second goal in injury time at the end of the match.

Victor Obinna Nsofor scored a brace as Nigeria beat Kenya 3-0 in Abuja.

Ikechukwu Uche took advantage of a defensive slip to open the scoring for the Super Eagles in only the second minute of the game.

Kenya had several chances to get into the game, but failed to convert any of them.

Obinna Nsofor scored twice in the second half to ensure the Super Eagles wrapped up a comfortable home victory.

Tunisia remain top of the group with six points, Nigeria are second with four.

Mozambique stay in third with a point, Kenya are last and are yet to earn any points.

Tunisia go head-to-head with Nigeria in two weeks time, while Mozambique travel to Kenya.

Group C

Zambia defeated visitors Rwanda 1-0.

The victory takes Zambia to four points, after they drew 1-1 with Egypt in the opening game of the final round of qualifiers.

Rwanda remain on just a single point from their two games.

Algeria shocked their North African rivals and African champions Egypt 3-1 triumph on Sunday.

Karim Matmour opened the scoring for the hosts in the 60th minute.

Goals from Abdelkader Ghezzal and Rafik Djebbour soon followed as the Desert Foxes opened a 3-0 lead over the six-times African champions.

Mohammed Aboutraika clawed one back from the visitors with three minutes to go, but it was too little, too late.

Algeria go top of the table with four points ahead of Zambia.

Egypt lie bottom, below Rwanda, with a solitary point.

The Pharoahs will hope to restore a semblance of hope to their 2010 World Cup campaign when they host Rwanda in two weeks.

Algeria meanwhile travel to Zambia.

Group D

Benin narrowly edged Sudan, 1-0.

In the group's other tie, Ghana secured a 2-0 away victory over Mali.

Kwadwo Asamoah and Matthew Amoah were scorers of the two second half goals.

The Black Stars go back on top of Group D with six points, while Benin lie in second place with three points.

Sudan and Mali have one point each.

Next up for group leaders Ghana is a trip to Sudan, while Mali host Benin.

Group E

Burkina Faso kept their perfect record in this round of qualifying with a 1-0 over hosts Malawi.

Moumouni Dagano, who plays in Qatar, grabbed the only goal of the game in the 70th minute with a well-taken close-range volley past goalkeeper Swadik Sanudi.

It was Dagano's 10th goal in the World Cup campaign so far making him the top scorer in Africa for the 2010 qualifiers.

Ivory Coast also made it two wins out of two when they beat Guinea 2-1.

Bakary Kone opened the scoring for the Elephants on the stroke of half time.

Sambegou Bangoura struck an equalizer for the home side halfway through the second half.

But Romaric scored what proved to be the winner seven minutes later and Ivory Coast top Group E with six points on goal difference.

Burkina Faso lie in second and the group's top two teams will face each other in Ouagadougou in two weeks.

Guinea and Malawi prop up the group.

Both are yet to win a point.

That could change when Malawi travels to Conakry for the next round of matches.

MY POV: Should be a fun weekend of action in two weeks. We'll know a lot more after that round of action.

African World Cup Qualifying

The final phase of African World Cup qualifying begins this weekend, with 20 teams competing for five positions at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

The five group winners are guaranteed a prestigious spot at Africa's first World Cup, while the top three in each group make it to January's African Cup of Nations in Angola.

Hosts South Africa, who don't need to qualify, must satisfy themselves with a friendly at home to Norway this weekend.

All but one of Africa's four representatives at the 2006 World Cup in Germany are still in contention, with the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Tunisia all playing in separate sections.

Angola are the only side who did not progress past the first group phase, which ended last October.

Getting back to the World Cup will not be easy for the four, as eager nations like Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria are all looking to occupy the spots.

The Egyptians, the reigning African champions, are confident they can make the cut, while Cameroon's Indomitable Lions will be out to extend their own record of qualifications by an African team to six.

The BBC has a thorough preview of African qualifying while Soccernet.com also has a wonderful preview.

What's the big match of the weekend, according to FIFA.com?

Togo-Cameroon, Saturday 28 March, 16.00 GMT, Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra (Ghana)
The much anticipated shoot-out between two of Africa's most prolific strikers now looks unlikely to take place. Samuel Eto'o is expected to line up for Cameroon, but Emmanuel Adebayor's participation is in doubt as he recovers from a hamstring injury. The Arsenal player was recently named African Footballer of the Year for 2008, while three-time recipient Eto'o is an early candidate for the 2009 award having scored an avalanche of goals for Barcelona in the Spanish La Liga.

Saturday's game will unfold in Accra, across the border from Togo, who are forced to play their home matches on neutral ground due to a ban. The Sparrow Hawks were surprise qualifiers for Germany 2006, but lost momentum by failing to reach the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Ghana 2008. Cameroon, meanwhile, won five out of their six matches in the first phase of the South Africa 2010 preliminaries, emphasising their status among the favourites to qualify.

Here are this weekend's matches. Enjoy!

African Zone qualifying, final phase, Matchday 1 fixtures

Saturday 28 March
Rwanda-Algeria
Togo-Cameroon
Kenya-Tunisia
Burkina Faso-Guinea
Morocco-Gabon
Sudan-Mali
Sunday 29 March
Mozambique-Nigeria
Ghana-Benin
Côte d'Ivoire -Malawi
Egypt-Zambia