1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
Listed below are the dates and results for the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the African zone (CAF). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification.
A total of 26 CAF teams entered the competition. The African Zone was allocated 1 place (out of 16) in the final tournament.
There would be five rounds of play:
- Preliminary Round, First Round, Second Round and Third Round: In each of these rounds, the teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the next round, until there would be 3 teams left.
- Final Round: The 3 teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.
Preliminary round
7 March 1976 | Sierra Leone | 5 – 1 | Niger | Freetown, Sierra Leone |
Referee: Komia (Togo) |
Sierra Leone advanced to the First Round.
13 March 1976 | Upper Volta | 1 – 1 | Mauritania | Ouagadougou, Upper Volta |
Referee: Amadou (Niger) |
28 March 1976 | Mauritania | 0 – 2 (1 – 3 agg.) | Upper Volta | Nouakchott, Mauritania |
Referee: Ba (Mali) |
Upper Volta advanced to the First Round.
First round
1 April 1976 | Algeria | 1 – 0 | Libya | Algiers, Algeria |
Betrouni 83' | Referee: Dubach (Switzerland) |
Algeria advanced to the Second Round.
12 December 1976 | Morocco | 1 – 1 | Tunisia | Casablanca, Morocco |
Ghouimi 35' | Referee: Wöhrer (Austria) |
9 January 1977 | Tunisia | 1 – 1 (a.e.t.) (2 – 2 agg.) (4 – 2 p) | Morocco | Tunis, Tunisia |
Mustapha | Referee: Hungerbühler (Switzerland) |
The aggregate score was tied 2–2, but Tunisia won 4–2 on penalties in the second leg to advance to the Second Round.
Togo advanced to the Second Round.
10 October 1976 | Ghana | 2 – 1 | Guinea | Accra, Ghana |
Referee: Koudou (Côte d'Ivoire) |
The aggregate score was tied 3–3, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the Second Round.
Guinea advanced to the Second Round, via the play-off.
Zaire | w/o | Central African Republic | ||
Withdrew |
Central African Republic withdrew, so Zaire advanced to the Second Round automatically.
16 October 1976 | Sierra Leone | 0 – 0 | Nigeria | Freetown, Sierra Leone |
Referee: Turkson (Ghana) |
Nigeria advanced to the Second Round.
17 October 1976 | Congo-Brazzaville | 2 – 2 | Cameroon | Brazzaville, Congo-Brazzaville |
Referee: Gumboh (Zambia) |
31 October 1976 | Cameroon | 0 – 2 Awarded[1] (1 – 2 82') (2 – 4 agg.) | Congo-Brazzaville | Yaoundé, Cameroon |
Forfeited | Referee: N'Jai (Gambia) |
Congo-Brazzaville advanced to the Second Round.
4 September 1976 | Upper Volta | 1 – 1 | Ivory Coast | Ouagadougou, Upper Volta |
Referee: N'Diaye (Senegal) |
26 September 1976 | Ivory Coast | 2 – 0 (3 – 1 agg.) | Upper Volta | Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire |
Referee: Diagne (Guinea) |
Côte d'Ivoire advanced to the Second Round.
Egypt advanced to the Second Round.
Sudan withdrew, so Kenya advanced to the Second Round automatically.
Tanzania withdrew, so Uganda advanced to the Second Round automatically.
Zambia advanced to the Second Round.
Second round
6 February 1977 | Tunisia | 2 – 0 | Algeria | Tunis, Tunisia |
Akid 56' Kaabi 73' |
Referee: Queudeville (Luxembourg) |
28 February 1977 | Algeria | 1 – 1 (1 – 3 agg.) | Tunisia | Algiers, Algeria |
Guendouz 34' | Jebali 89' | Referee: Bonett (Malta) |
Tunisia advanced to the Third Round.
13 February 1977 | Togo | 0 – 2 | Guinea | Lomé, Togo |
Bangoura Cherif |
Referee: Balloux (Côte d'Ivoire) |
Guinea advanced to the Third Round.
Zaire withdrew, so Nigeria advanced to the Third Round automatically.
13 February 1977 | Ivory Coast | 3 – 2 | Congo-Brazzaville | Bouaké, Ivory Coast |
Referee: Dwomoh (Ghana) |
27 February 1977 | Congo-Brazzaville | 1 – 3 (3 – 6 agg.) | Ivory Coast | Brazzaville, Congo-Brazzaville |
Referee: Okubule (Nigeria) |
Ivory Coast advanced to the Third Round.
Egypt advanced to the Third Round.
Zambia advanced to the Third Round.
Third round
19 June 1977 | Tunisia | 3 – 1 (3 – 2 agg.) | Guinea | Tunis, Tunisia |
B. Abdullah Khouini Liman |
L. Sylla | Referee: Bahig () |
Tunisia advanced to the Final Round.
10 July 1977 | Nigeria | 4 – 0 | Ivory Coast | Lagos, Nigeria |
Referee: Chayu (Zambia) |
25 July 1977 | Ivory Coast | 2 – 2 (2 – 6 agg.) | Nigeria | Bouaké, Ivory Coast |
Referee: N'Diaye (Senegal) |
Nigeria advanced to the Final Round.
Egypt advanced to the Final Round.
Final round
Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tunisia | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 |
2 | Egypt | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 11 | −4 |
3 | Nigeria | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | +1 |
25 September 1977 | Tunisia | 0 – 0 | Nigeria | Tunis, Tunisia |
Referee: Carpenter (Republic of Ireland) |
21 October 1977 | Egypt | 3 – 1 | Nigeria | Cairo, Egypt |
Abdou Mokhtar |
Iwelumo | Referee: Platopoulos (Greece) |
12 November 1977 | Nigeria | 0 – 1 | Tunisia | Lagos, Nigeria |
Odiye 61' (o.g.) | Referee: Dörflinger (Switzerland) |
25 November 1977 | Egypt | 3 – 2 | Tunisia | Cairo, Egypt |
Gaafar 25' Abdou 53' Al-Khatib 82' |
Raouf 80' Akid 87' |
Referee: Ok (Turkey) |
11 December 1977 | Tunisia | 4 – 1 | Egypt | Tunis, Tunisia |
Akid 15' Temime 43' Ben Aziza 64' Labidi 75' |
Mokhtar 80' | Referee: Menegali (Italy) |
Tunisia qualified.
See also
- 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification
- 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
- 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
- 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
- 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)