Three more African countries are aiming to join the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Pharoahs of Egypt in  next year’s soccer World Cup to be hosted by Russia.

Nigeria and Egypt booked their places at the Mundial after nail – biting wins against Zambia in Group B and the Republic of Congo in Group E respectively over the weekend.

While the Super Eagles needed a 73 – minute strike from Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi to overcome the Zambians, Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah ensured the Egyptians would be appearing in their third world cup since 1990 courtesy of an injury time penalty kick after the Congolese had drawn level with just two minutes left to regulation time.

However, Africa’s five slots at the world cup will be completed when more countries from the continent slug it out in November to determine the three countries that will join Nigeria and Egypt to fly Africa’s flag at the global spectacle.

In Group A, Tunisia who leads the group with 13 points are almost home and dry as they will be  needing just a point when they take on the group’s weeping boys and neighbours, Libya who have secured only 3 points after 5 matches.

Their closest rivals, the Congo Democratic Republic still has an outside chance of qualification as a home win against third – placed Guinea on November 6 and an almost impossible home defeat of Tunisia will see them at the world cup for the first time in their history.

In Group C, the fight for the only slot is a straight one between the Elephants of Cote d’ Ivoire and the Atlas Lions of Morocco. Morocco moved to the top of the group with 9 points after their last weekend’s 3 – 0 thrashing of Gabon while the Ivorians are on 8 points after they were held to a barren draw by Mali in Bamako.

The final group matches will see the Ivorians squaring up against the Moroccans while Gabon hosts Mali. Cote d’ Ivoire needs an outside win to topple the Moroccans from the top of the table and secure a slot at the World Cup while the North Africans need just a point to maintain their lead over the Elephants.

The other group match between Gabon and Mali could as well be for formalities as both countries, no matter the outcome of their encounter, are already out of contention after garnering just 5 and 3 point respectively after five rounds of matches.

There is still everything to play for in Group D which comprises Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde and South Africa. The final round of matches will go down to the wire as any of the four countries could still qualify for the Mundial.

Senegal currently leads the pack with 8 points after four matches. Significantly, the match which they lost 1 – 2 to South Africa was cancelled after the Court of Arbitration for Sports upheld the life ban imposed on Ghanaian referee, Joseph Lamptey for match manipulation after he awarded a non – existent penalty to South Africa in that fixture. Bafana Bafana, South Africa’s national football team currently has 4 points after 3 points was deducted from their total haul of 7 following the cancellation.

The double – header between both countries on November 10 and 14 could be the decider even as second – placed Burkina Faso with 6 points would be aiming to wallop Cape Verde with as much as a 6 – goal margin and hope South Africa beats Senegal in Johannesburg and secure a low – scoring draw in the return leg in Dakar.

Whatever the outcome of these matches, perennial African football powerhouses like Algeria who are the top ranked African soccer nation, the Black Stars of Ghana and the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon will be conspicuously missing when the football showpiece kicks off on  Thursday, June 14, 2018 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.