CAF World Cup 2010 Qualifying Roundup

March 30th, 2009 | by: Daryl | Comments(5)

Remember our CAF World Cup 2010 qualifying preview on Friday? The general consensus was that nothing is ever as straightforward as it seems. Yes, there were favourites to win each group (and therefore qualify for WC 2010) but there’s a big difference between favourites and certainties. Just ask Emmanuel Adebayor.

The Arsenal striker seemed a certainty not to play for Togo after being out for six weeks with a dodgy hamstring. But Togo called up Adebayor for the big Group A game vs Cameroon anyway. And they started him. And he scored the winner after just 11 minutes:

Gabon also beat Morocco 2-1 in Casablanca, leaving Group A looking a little bit upside down:

In Group B, Nigeria were held 0-0 away to Mozambique which leaves the Super Eagles already two points behind Tunisia (who beat Kenya 2-1).

Group C is almost perfectly square after draws all round. But you’d still back Egypt to win it, right?

Advantage Ghana in Group D with a 1-0 win over Benin, while Mali and Sudan drew 1-1.

Fantastic result for unfancied Burkina Faso, who pulled off a 4-2 win over Guinea. But there was tragedy in Cote d’Ivoire, where 19 people were killed and 130 injured in Abidjan when a wall collapsed before Cote d’Ivoire’s 5-0 win over Malawi. FIFA are calling for an investigation.

Source: FIFA.com

The next round of CAF World Cup 2010 qualifiers are in June.