Senegal, the current champions of Africa, will aim at capping off their celebrations by grabbing a place at the World Cup, which takes place later this year in Qatar.
After beating Egypt in the final on penalty shootouts, the Teranga Lions conquered the rest of Africa in Cameroon to win their first AFCON title in history. Interestingly, Senegal has to overcome the same opponents in a two-legged tie next month to secure qualification to the Mundial.
The Teranga Lions cannot afford to miss out at the World Cup; they have to represent Africa as the champions but must see off the Pharaohs in a crunchy duel. A Senegal team with head coach Aliou Cissé, then a player reached the quarter-finals in their maiden World Cup appearance in 2002. This is a feat Cissé dreams of achieving as a coach after guiding his side to end the continental title drought.
The West African side exited at the group stages in Russia in 2018 with Cissé still in charge of the team. A star-studded Teranga Lions team of Edouard Mendy, Sadio Mané, Kalidou Koulibaly, Idrissa Gana Gueye, Abdou Diallo, Bouna Sarr, amongst others, will be disappointed not to play at the biggest stage in World football.
Egypt will have no better revenge over Senegal than to beat them in the playoffs to secure qualification to the World Cup for a second consecutive time. The Pharaohs were beaten to the AFCON 2021 trophy by Senegal, losing in a penalty shootout.
Portuguese trainer Carlos Queiroz has his job on the line going into the double-header after being employed to seal a World Cup berth for the Pharaohs. Hossam El Badry was sacked as head coach of Egypt even though he was on an unbeaten run and had played two matches of the World Cup qualifiers. Queiroz missed the AFCON final through suspension after being sent off in the semi-finals against host country Cameroon. The Portuguese will be present at the dugout for the two matches as he sets his eyes on the ultimate goal of booking a ticket to Qatar in November.
The Pharaohs were superior over the Teranga Lions the last time the two teams faced each other in the World Cup qualifications. Egypt won 1-0 at home in Cairo and held Senegal to a scoreless stalemate in Dakar.
The first leg of the crunchy encounter is scheduled at the Cairo International Stadium on Friday, March 25, 2022, at 19:00 GMT.
On Monday, March 28, 2022, the second leg will come off at the Damniadio Olympic Stadium in Dakar, with kick-off at 19:00 GMT.