1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

Preliminary round

First round

Second round

Third round

Final round

Notes

External links

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.

1 Preliminary round
2 First round
3 Second round
4 Third round
5 Final round
6 See also
7 Notes
8 External links

7 March 1976	Sierra Leone	5 – 1	Niger	Freetown, Sierra Leone
				Referee: Komia (Togo)

21 March 1976	Niger	2 – 1 (3 – 6 agg.)	Sierra Leone	Niamey, Niger
				Referee: Badru (Nigeria)

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.

1 April 1976	Algeria	1 – 0	Libya	Algiers, Algeria
	Betrouni 83'			Referee: Dubach (Switzerland)

16 April 1976	Libya	0 – 0 (0 – 1 agg.)	Algeria	Tripoli, Libya
				Referee: Guruceta Muro (Spain)

Algeria advanced to the Second Round.

12 December 1976	Morocco	1 – 1	Tunisia	Casablanca, Morocco
	Ghouimi 35'			Referee: Wöhrer (Austria)

The aggregate score was tied 2–2, but Tunisia won 4–2 on penalties in the second leg to advance to the Second Round.

17 October 1976	Togo	1 – 0	Senegal	Lomé, Togo
				Referee: Dwomoh (Ghana)

31 October 1976	Senegal	1 – 1 (1 – 2 agg.)	Togo	Dakar, Senegal
				Referee: Naciri (Morocco)

Togo advanced to the Second Round.

10 October 1976	Ghana	2 – 1	Guinea	Accra, Ghana
				Referee: Koudou (Côte d'Ivoire)

31 October 1976	Guinea	2 – 1 (a.e.t.) (3 – 3 agg.)	Ghana	Conakry, Guinea
				Referee: Aouissi (Algeria)

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.

16 January 1977	Guinea	2 – 0	Ghana	Lomé, Togo
			P. Cámara S. Sylla	Referee: N'Diaye (Senegal)

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)

30 October 1976	Nigeria	6 – 2 (6 – 2 agg.)	Sierra Leone	Lagos, Nigeria
				Referee: Matovu (Tanzania)

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	Côte d'Ivoire	Ouagadougou, Upper Volta
				Referee: N'Diaye (Senegal)

26 September 1976	Côte d'Ivoire	2 – 0 (3 – 1 agg.)	Upper Volta	Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
				Referee: Diagne (Guinea)

Côte d'Ivoire advanced to the Second Round.

29 October 1976	Egypt	3 – 0	Ethiopia	Cairo, Egypt
				Referee: Menegali (Italy)

14 November 1976	Ethiopia	1 – 2 (1 – 5 agg.)	Egypt	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
				Referee: Wurtz (France)

Egypt advanced to the Second Round.

Kenya	w/o	Sudan
		Withdrew

Sudan withdrew, so Kenya advanced to the Second Round automatically.

Uganda	w/o	Tanzania
		Withdrew

Tanzania withdrew, so Uganda advanced to the Second Round automatically.

9 May 1976	Zambia	4 – 0	Malawi	Lusaka, Zambia
				Referee: Muamba-Kabwe (Zaire)

30 May 1976	Malawi	0 – 1 (0 – 5 agg.)	Zambia	Blantyre, Malawi
				Referee: Randrianaly (Madagascar)

Zambia advanced to the 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)

27 February 1977	Guinea	2 – 1 (4 – 1 agg.)	Togo	Conakry, Guinea
				Referee: Dieng (Senegal)

Guinea advanced to the Third Round.

Nigeria	w/o	Zaire
		Withdrew

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.

6 February 1977	Kenya	0 – 0	Egypt	Nairobi, Kenya
				Referee: Ahmed Jama (Somalia)

27 February 1977	Egypt	1 – 0 (1 – 0 agg.)	Kenya	Cairo, Egypt
	Al-Khalil			Referee: El-Ghoul (Libya)

Egypt advanced to the Third Round.

13 February 1977	Uganda	1 – 0	Zambia	Kampala, Uganda
				Referee: Kemale (Ethiopia)

27 February 1977	Zambia	4 – 2 (a.e.t.) (4 – 3 agg.)	Uganda	Ndola, Zambia
				Referee: Matovu (Tanzania)

Zambia advanced to the Third Round.

5 June 1977	Guinea	1 – 0	Tunisia	Conakry, Guinea
	Ismail Eusebio			Referee: Larache (Morocco)

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.

15 July 1977	Egypt	2 – 0	Zambia	Cairo, Egypt
	Gaafar 29' Hamam 49'			Referee: Michelotti (Italy)

31 July 1977	Zambia	0 – 0 (0 – 2 agg.)	Egypt	Lusaka, Zambia
				Referee: Gordon (Scotland)

Egypt advanced to the 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)

8 October 1977	Nigeria	4 – 0	Egypt	Lagos, Nigeria
				Referee: Correia (Portugal)

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.

^ The second leg was abandoned in the 82nd minute due to riots, and subsequently FIFA awarded a 2–0 victory to Congo.

9 January 1977

Tunisia

1 – 1
(a.e.t.)
(2 – 2 agg.)

(4 – 2 pen)

Morocco

Tunis, Tunisia

Referee: Hungerbühler (Switzerland)

Penalties

1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) at FIFA.com