MONROVIA, LIBERIA (Kolubah Zayzay)-The men’s senior National Football team of Liberia, the Lone Star, faces an uphill task of qualifying to the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifier following the draw for the qualifying round of the competition on Tuesday, January 21, 2020, in Cairo Egypt.
Liberia Lone Star was drawn against Nigeria, one Country that has proven difficult to beat in qualifiers and other competitions.
The Lone Star has lost nine times against the Super Eagles of Nigeria and has drawn two times, with three victories in fourteen meetings in all competitions.
The last time Liberia won Nigeria was on July 9, 2000 in the 2002 Fifa World Cup qualifiers, winning 2-1 at the SKD Sports Complex.
Since then, Liberia has only managed to pick up one point in six meetings in all competition.
The draw for the African Zone held Tuesday in Cairo, Egypt, also paired Liberia against Cape Verde; another side Liberia has found difficulty in winning away.
In four meetings between the two sides, the Lone Star have won two and lost two, with Liberia scoring a 1-0 win in each of the win victories and have lost away 4-2 and 3-0.
Liberia will also face Central African Republic in group C.
Liberia defeated Sierra Leone on aggregate to progress to the group stage of the FIFA 2022 world cup.
Only the 10 group winners will progress to the final play-off round, where a two-legged ties will decide Africa’s five World Cup representatives.
The first round of group games will begin in October 2020 and finish in October 2021, prior to a final round of play-offs in November 2021.
The qualifiers had been due to begin this March, but the Confederation of African Football postponed them after re-scheduling the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations from a June kick-off to a January one.
Cameroon and Ivory Coast were drawn against each other in the second round of African qualifying.
Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions have represented Africa at a record seven World Cups, while Ivory Coast have made three appearances.
Two other groups feature two teams that have both played at football’s greatest global event in the past.
Ghana and South Africa clash in Group ‘G’ along with Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, while Egypt and Angola meet in Group F alongside Gabon and Libya.
Egypt were one of Africa’s five representatives at the last World Cup – alongside Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia – and all will believe they have a decent chance of reaching the third and final round in November 2021.
In Group ‘B’, Tunisia meets Zambia, Mauritania and Equatorial Guinea while Nigeria will face Cape Verde, Central African Republic and Liberia in Group ‘C’.
Group’H’ pits Senegal against Congo, Namibia and Togo, while Morocco will meet Sudan and both Guinea and Guinea-Bissau in Group I.
The first round of African qualifying saw the continent’s 28 lowest-ranked sides compete over two legs, with the winners progressing to join the 26 nations given byes into the second stage.
