The reigning African champions Senegal lost in the first leg of the World Cup qualifier against Egypt, while Algeria recorded a hard-fought win over Cameroon and Ghana drew goalless against Nigeria.
In what was a rematch of the 2021 AFCON final, Egypt who lost to Senegal in the AFCON finals rectified their errors to register a hard-fought 1 – 0 win in the first leg in Cairo.
In the other games, a resurgent Algerian side snatched a narrow 1 – 0 away win in Cameroon as coach Regobert Song lost in his first official assignment.
In Accra, Ghana and Nigeria shared the spoils in a stalemate goalless draw. Egypt and Algeria hold a slight advantage ahead of the return leg, but there is still everything to play for in a few days.
