Mbaizo and Cameroon advance to final round of World Cup Qualifying with 1-0 win over Côte d’Ivoire

Olivier Mbaizo wasn’t in the starting lineup but an early injury to Nouhou Tolo gave the Philadelphia Union defender a chance to play out a 1-0 win over Côte d’Ivoire in his home town of Douala Tuesday night that put the Indomitable Lions through to the final round of qualifying.

Mbaizo came off the bench in the 4th minute to replace Tolo and played through to the final whistle of the close contest between two teams battling in a decisive qualifier. Karl Toko Ekambi’s 21st minute goal held up as the winner.

Cameroon will be one of 10 teams competing for five spots in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in the final round of qualification for the Confederation of African Football in March. Each team will play a home and away match against another team with each of the winners advancing to play in Qatar.

Prior to the final round of qualifying, Cameroon will be hosting the Africa Cup of Nations from January 9 to February 6.

Jamiro Monteiro and Cape Verde will be part of the Africa Cup of Nations but their dreams of making the final round of qualifying were extinguished by Nigeria in a 1-1 draw in Lagos on Tuesday. Monteiro started the match for the Blue Sharks, which fell behind on a 1st minute goal for the hosts but were able to find an equalizer five minutes later. The draw wasn’t enough for Cape Verde as Nigeria advanced through to the final round.

The final participants in World Cup Qualifying for CAF will be Algeria, Cameroon, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia.