North African teams have taken firm control of their path to the 2022 Qatar World Cup finals after most of them won first legs of the final qualifying round for the continent.

The most impressive were perhaps Algeria who went to Cameroon, saw and conquered the Indomitable Lions through a 1-0 win on Friday.

Ex-Leicester City striker Islam Slimani’s early goal condemned newly-appointed coach Rigobert Song to a losing start to the Cameroon coaching job.

The pressure would surely be on the fan favourite Song should Cameroon, who hold the record seven World Cup appearances for Africa, miss the flight to Qatar.

Tunisia emulated Algeria’s example as the Carthage Eagles beat hosts Mali 1-0 who were so unfortunate to concede through Moussa Sissako’s own goal.

The first leg match went from bad to worse for Sissako as he eventually got marching orders.

In another match, Morocco went to the DRC and came back with a valuable point following a one-all draw.

Yoane Wissa scored for the hosts whereas Tarik Tissoudal replied for the visitors.

Elsewhere, Egypt made use of home ground advantage as they beat Africa champions Senegal 1-0 through Salio Ciss’s own goal.

The Pharaohs win saw them exact their revenge for the loss they suffered to the Lions of Teranga in the Africa Cup of Nations final on February 6 this year.

Such results mean that West Africa’s certain World Cup representation could be either Ghana or Nigeria who played out to a goalless draw in Ghana on Friday.

The second leg ties are scheduled for March 29 with the overall winners sailing through to Qatar.

Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal and Cameroon are from West Africa, DRC (Central Africa), whereas Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria represent North Africa.

Looking at the first leg results, it might not be surprising having most teams from North Africa book a ticket to the World Cup.

If that happens, it would be a continuation of North Africa’s dominance of every level of continental football.

For example, Egypt are the record AFCON winners, Al Ahly the winner of most CAF Champions League titles and Raja Casablanca (Morocco), the leading champions of the Confederation Cup.

North Africa has sound football infrastructure at par with some European countries and so is the case with their level of professionalism administratively and coaching standards.