The 50th installment of the Ghana – Nigerris rivalry kicked off on Friday at the Baba Yara Stadium as both countries jostled for a ticket to the 2022 FIFA World Cup scheduled for Qatar later in the year.

Coach Augustine Eguavoen had to replace two stalwarts in the team -Wilfred Ndidi and Maduka Okoye – with Innocent Bonke and Francis Uzoho and he also handed debuts to Ademola Lookman and Calvin Bassey.

These are the player ratings:

Islam Slimani scored the only goal of the game as Algeria defeated Cameroon in a CAF Third Round 2022 World Cup qualifier at the Japoma Stadium in Douala on Friday night.

The Desert Foxes put in a masterful display of defensive football, holding the Indomitable Lions at bay and claiming victory thanks to a brilliant header from their attacking spearhead late in the first half.

The win not only takes Algeria to the verge of qualification for the World Cup, but also exorcises the ghosts of their awful Africa Cup of Nations campaign in Cameroon earlier this year.

Cameroon started strongly and threatened through Michael Ngadeu, Karl Toko Ekambi and Vincent Aboubakar inside the opening 10 minutes, though only one effort brought Algeria goalkeeper Rais M’Bolhi into action.

Algeria almost claimed the lead against the run of play on 13 minutes when Islam Slimani raced free into the right of the penalty area and fired a powerful effort on target, only for Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana to make a superb save.

Perhaps stung by that chance for their opponents, the Indomitable Lions tightened up their approach and looked for more control of possession in midfield, with Algeria happy to sit back and look to strike either on the counter attack or via set pieces.

And it was via the latter method that the Desert Foxes broke the deadlock on 41 minutes. Youcef Belaili played a perfectly-flighted cross from a free kick on the left flank and Slimani powered home a header – via the right hand of Onana and the underside of the crossbar – to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

The North Africans were able to see out the remainder of the first half and go into the interval with a morale-boosting advantage, while the hosts opened the second stanza with a pair of changes, as Kevin Soni and Leandre Tawamba replaced Vincent Aboubakar and Martin Hongla.

Tawamba gave notice of his potency on 61 minutes with a fine piece of control of the edge of the box before turning his defender and getting away a shot, but his low effort lacked the pace to trouble M’Bolhi.

Algeria generally succeeded in breaking up the play and ensuring that Cameroon were never able to build up any momentum in their efforts to get back in the game, and the visitors nearly succeeded in claiming a second goal from a set piece when a 78th minute corner kick ended with Ramy Bensebaini directing an effort just wide.

Cameroon’s Toko Ekambi looked to level the game with just under 10 minutes of regulation time remaining, but his low shot from the edge of the box was easily smothered by M’Bolhi.

The Indomitable Lions looked to make the most of 11 minutes of injury time (the lengthy addition was mostly down to a floodlight failure in the corner of the ground early in the second half) but Algeria held firm to secure an away victory which makes them clear favourites to secure qualification for Qatar 2022.

The teams will meet again for the return leg in Blida on the evening of Tuesday 29 March.

Former Ghana defender John Paintsil believes the second leg of the Qatar 2022 World Cup play-off between Nigeria and Ghana has been thrown open after the first leg at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi ended goalless Friday.

Speaking after the game, Paintsil commended the Super Eagles for their composure in Kumasi, but insisted that taking a goalless draw into the second leg left the door open for both teams.

“It was an amazing performance for the Eagles but the second leg favours both teams in terms of coping with the pressure and the crowd.

“The Eagles were very composed the way they played the Black Stars away from home. Instead of kicking the ball away, they built from the back, which shows confidence.

“They took the game to us, starting from the first half in the 26th minute to the 90th minute. Credit to the Nigerians and I believe we have also learnt our lessons. We know that going to Nigeria would be an open and balanced game for both teams.”

Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has confirmed he is preparing for a rematch with Britain’s Anthony Joshua.

Usyk is set to face Joshiua in July.

after his victory last year saw him crowned unified heavyweight champion.

The 35-year-old left his native Ukraine, where he had been helping to defend the country from the Russian invasion, on Wednesday.

“I decided to start preparing for a rematch with Anthony Joshua,” Usyk posted on Social Media

on Friday.

Usyk won the WBA, WBO IBF and IBO belts from Joshua on a unanimous points decision in London in September.

The rematch with Joshua had initially been targeted for May but was pushed back following the Russian invasion.

Usyk enlisted in Ukraine’s military in March following the Russian invasion.

A banner reading “Hands off Ukraine, Putin!” could be seen behind Usyk in his Instagram video.

“A large number of my friends support me, all the rest of the good and peace, thank God for everything,” he wrote.

Nigeria will receive €12.2m (N5.6bn) from FIFA if they qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup later this year,

The World Cup in Qatar will take place from November 21 to December 18, with 32 teams taking part in the competition.

The Super Eagles are looking to qualify for their seventh World Cup appearance but they are one game away from achieving that feat.

World governing body FIFA increased the qualifying bonus from €10m to €12.2m to help the qualified teams prepare well for the tournament.

The Nigeria Football Federation received €10m from FIFA when they qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Meanwhile, the build-up to the fixture has been spiced up by talk of the long rivalry between the two nations, dating all the way back to their first meeting in 1951, when the Nigerians romped to a 5-0 victory over their neighbours.

A total of 18 secondary schools in Lagos are billed to take part in the seventh PwCChess4Change championship for secondary schools in Lagos State between June 3 and September 30.

The participating schools include Birrel Avenue Senior High School; Eva Adelaja Girls Senior Secondary School, Bariga; Immaculate Heart Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maryland; CMS Girls Senior School, Bariga; Ireti Senior Grammar School, Ikoyi; Eko Akete Grammar School, Lagos Island; Wajab Folawiyo Senior High, Osborne and Falomo Senior High School, Ikoyi.

Others are Kuramo Senior Secondary School, Victoria Island; Government Senior, Victoria Island; New Era Senior Secondary School, Surulere, Government Senior College, Eric Moore; Jubilee Model Senior Grammar School, Iganmu; Sari Iganmu Senior Secondary School, Orile; Euba Junior Secondary School, Mushin; Unity Junior High School, Oshodi and Eko Boys High School, Mushin.

Organisers, MediaVision Limited, said everything was in place to host a successful tournament.

Country Operations Partner, PricewaterhouseCooper, Pedro Omontuenhen, said the competition was organised to impact positively on the academic and social life of the students.

“We believe chess helps improve the cognitive development of the students and also prevent them from various social vices. And this has made us remain committed to bankroll this competition every year. I want to urge the students to tap into this opportunity and grab it with both hands.”

The University of Ilorin on Friday defeated Obafemi Awolowo University 5-4 in a penalty shootout to emerge the champions of the 2022 Nigeria University Games in the men’s football category.

The final match played at the University of Lagos sports centre ended goalless at regulation time.

During the penalty shootout, UNILORIN lost one penalty while OAU lost two, with the last penalty kick converted to a goal by Olatunji Maleek for UNILORIN.

The Captain of UNILORIN, Sadiq Ajao, told NAN that resilience was key for his team to win the keenly contested match.

“It was a tough match, we wanted to play our pattern, but the OAU side having studied it stopped us from using the flanks.

“OAU is a good side with quality players, so we had to be patient to win via penalty kicks. When we lost the first penalty, we did not lose hope; anyway, penalty is a game of luck,” he said.

Distrust Captain of the OAU side, Toheeb Adegoke, said that his team did not deserve to lose the game.

Morocco’s Tarik Tissoudali scored the crucial away goal against DR Congo in the World Cup play-off first leg

Morocco scored a crucial away goal in the 75th minute against 10-man DR Congo to earn a 1-1 draw in Kinshasa in the first leg of their 2022 World Cup play-off tie.

Brentford’s Yoane Wissa gave the hosts the lead in the 11th minute following a deflection off the head of Morocco captain Romain Saiss.

In the second half, the Atlas Lions’ Ryan Mmaee – who has a Moroccan mother and Cameroonian father – then put the ball over the bar from the penalty spot, before Tarik Tissoudali spared his blushes with a late equaliser.

DR Congo finished the game with 10 men after Glody Ngonda, who will now be suspended for Tuesday’s second leg in Casablanca. was dismissed after receiving a second yellow card five minutes from time.

The Leopards had taken the lead somewhat against the run of play through Wissa, who cut inside on the left and took a shot from the edge of the area that brushed Saiss’ head before glancing past Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.

Three minutes after the break, Wissa came close to doubling the lead for DR Congo as he drove into the area before curling just wide of the post.

Morocco had a golden opportunity to equalise in the 53rd minute when they were awarded a penalty after the ball struck forward Cedric Bakumbu’s outstretched arm as it came off the head of a Moroccan.

However, Mmaee blazed the ball over the bar following a stuttering run-up for a miss that may be regretted.

A last-ditch lunge by Mmaee’s brother Samy Mmaee thwarted Dieumerci Mbokani at the other end as he looked set to find an empty net at the far post, before Paris St-Germain star Achraf Hakimi headed narrowly wide.

Saiss made amends in the 75th minute when his sliding tackle denied Bakambu, with the striker through one-on-one with Bounou, before the Moroccan captain set up the counter-attack for the equaliser.

The ball was launched forward towards Ayoub El Kaabi, who nodded it into the path of his fellow substitute Tissoudali to crash into the net.

Just four minutes later, DR Congo could have restored their lead only for Bakambu’s header to be well saved by Bounou.

The second leg will be played on Tuesday 29 March with Morocco aiming for a second consecutive World Cup finals appearance, and sixth overall.

Two-time African champions DR Congo have not qualified for the tournament since 1974, when the country was known as Zaire, as they became the first sub-Saharan nation to qualify for a World Cup.

A fourth-minute own goal by Senegal’s Saliou Ciss was enough to give Egypt a 1-0 win in the first leg of their World Cup play-off in Cairo.

Ciss was incredibly unlucky when a shot from Mohamed Salah was pushed on to the bar by Edouard Mendy before striking the defender and going into the net.

The game was billed as a rerun of the recent Africa Cup of Nations final – won by Senegal on penalties after the match ended 0-0 – and to an extent it captured the cagey nature of that occasion back in February, with few chances of significance created by either side.

The game featured Liverpool’s two star strikers Salah and Sadio Mane, but neither of them had stellar games.

Nevertheless, on a day dominated by north African teams – Algeria and Tunisia also won 1-0, albeit away, and Morocco got an away goal in a draw in DR Congo – Ciss’ unfortunate moment meant Egypt matched the achievements of their continental neighbours.

The teams meet again in the second leg on Tuesday, with the winner qualifying for November’s tournament in Qatar.

In this repeat of the African Cup of Nations final, Egypt beat Senegal by the narrowest of margins to take the lead in the first leg of the qualifiers for Qatar.

Both sides had a number of attempts, but the size of the occasion meant a lot were half-chances and deflected efforts.

It made for a nervy last few minutes, but the Pharaohs held out.

They will now be out for revenge in the second leg after the heartbreaking penalty defeat last month, which stopped them from adding a record eighth Afcon title.

But Senegal coach Aliou Cisse may be cheered by knowing that his team surely won’t play as badly in front of their home fans – and they’re only down by a single goal.

Ghana and Nigeria played a goalless draw in the first leg of the play-off for the  qualification for the Qatar World Cup. It is the only goalless outing of the five matches played in the framework of the African qualifiers for the global show piece.

And so the Tuesday’s match in Abuja will be ultimate decider.

Ghana started the game brightly and just a minute into the match won a corner which was wasted by the Black Stars before AS Roma teen sensation Felix Afena-Gyan half volleyed a half chance three minutes later.

A defensive mishap by Nigeria nearly saw Ghana profiting but a quick tackle from Leon Balugon prevented Fatawu Issahaku from taking a shot.

Few minutes later, Afena-Gyan tried to outwit Trost-Ekong before forcing a strike which was kept out and just on the hour mark, Fatawu Issahaku nearly grabbed the opener after firing from outside the box only to be parried away by Francis Uzoho.

Nigeria had their moments in the first half with Victor Osimhen and Joe Aribo coming close in the final ten minutes of the half.

The Black Stars controlled the half but had nothing to show for it as the half remained barren.

Ghana returned from the break determined to get a goal but it was Nigeria who had the best of opportunity early in the half, when Moses Simon pulled a great save from Jojo Wollacot.

With twenty minutes left Mohammed Kudus weaved his way into the box before firing but Uzoho was there to save Nigeria, forcing the ball off for corner kick.

Nigeria were awarded a penalty after Iddrisu Baba had his hand to the ball but a VAR check reversed the decision.

Coach Otto Addo replaced Fatawu Issahaku with Osman Bukari, who added the some fire power in attacker with his marauding runs.

However, the end product was not there for the Black Stars as the game ended in a goalless stalemate.