After the final round of group stage matches in the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers concluded on Tuesday, the 10 teams that made it through have now got a fair idea of who they might need to beat to make it to Qatar.
The teams will be paired against each other, with the five that emerge victorious following their two-legged play-off ties securing a place at the World Cup.
Both “Pots” provide decent matchups with Pot 1 getting the greater interest obviously because they contain the five best teams on the continent, per FIFA’s latest rankings.
Pot 1 (Algeria, Senegal, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia) is of extreme interest to Ghanaians in particular, as it contains the team that the Black Stars will face in the final qualifying round.
Understandably, many people in the country are a bit apprehensive about the prospects of going up against one of Africa’s best for a place at next year’s World Cup.
Keen to get a sense of which of the five Pot 1 teams Ghanaians were leaning towards, we asked Ghanaians on social media who they’d rather be drawn against.
2022 World Cup Qualifiers final round (CAF):
Pot 1
🇩🇿 Algeria
🇸🇳 Senegal
🇲🇦 Morocco
🇳🇬 Nigeria
🇹🇳 TunisiaPot 2
🇪🇬 Egypt
🇲🇱 Mali
🇬🇭 Ghana
🇨🇩 DR Congo
🇨🇲 CameroonGhana will face one of the teams in Pot 1. Who would you prefer the Black Stars to be drawn against? #CitiSports pic.twitter.com/tYGjoDAm4p
— Citi Sports (@CitiSportsGHA) November 16, 2021
A number of them said Tunisia would probably be the most “manageable” out of the five while many others felt, any team, other than Senegal, could be positive for Ghana.
Nigeria was also a popular choice as some fans craved a meeting between the fierce rivals while a few people felt Ghana’s West African neighbours would be the easiest to beat.
Apart from Tunisia..the rest will lash us
— Kofi Ba Papa (@kofipapa99) November 16, 2021
Avoid Senegal at all cost.
Nigeria we can beat them, but the emotional drama will be too much.
The rest we’ll whip them.
I’m glad we’re off Mali and Cameroon’s way.
— prince mantse-bi (@mantsebi) November 16, 2021
Avoid Senegal at all cost.
Nigeria we can beat them, but the emotional drama will be too much.
The rest we’ll whip them.
I’m glad we’re off Mali and Cameroon’s way.
— prince mantse-bi (@mantsebi) November 16, 2021
Nigeria or Tunisia will be fine
— Godwin (@Godnart) November 16, 2021
We need Algeria 🤣 to save the tax payers money😂😂😂
— Captain✌️ (@azumah_razak) November 16, 2021
Nigeria or Senegal. The tougher the competition the better
— BigSam (@BigSamSKY) November 16, 2021
Nigeria oo. The rest has beaten us in advance.
— Original SLYY (@originalSlyy) November 16, 2021
Nigeria wey shaa small the rest go punish us
— Pierre Husein Ødegaard⚽💯 (@Aruwaso14) November 16, 2021
Algeria or Senegal.
I want an entertaining game.— Nana Tawiah 👷🏿 (@spanana89) November 16, 2021
Some more cynical people suggested that Ghana should face the strongest possible team so that the Black Stars can be knocked out.
Senegal 🇸🇳 and Algeria 🇩🇿 to save our money
— Nana Quame (@charlesaduamoa1) November 17, 2021
We need Algeria 🤣 to save the tax payers money😂😂😂
— Captain✌️ (@azumah_razak) November 16, 2021
