Reigning African champions Algeria and Nigeria were forced to work their socks off before sealing places in the playoff round of the World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday.
Both sides picked draws, Algeria going for the 33rd unbeaten match after an entertaining 2-2 stalemate with Burkina Faso while Nigeria were held to a 1-1 result by Cape Verde. Both of these ties were top of the table clashes.
In Blida, Algeria were headed for a 2-1 victory, but were pegged back from the penalty spot with eight minutes of play left.
Issoufou Dayo scored from the penalty spot to draw the Burkinabe level and they were determined to get the win that would have seen them not only break Algeria’s unbeaten run but also earn them a place in the play-off.
Algeria broke the deadlock in the 21st minute when Youce Bellaili squared a ball from the left and the Manchester City forward had to simply side foot the ball home unmarked. Mahrez came close to a second in the 32nd minute when teed up by Islam Silimani but he curled the ball just wide.
Burkina Faso however got the equalizer in the 37th minute through Zakaria Sanogo who volleyed the ball home off a Gustavo Sangare through pass.
In the second half, Algeria went back on top with substitute Feghouli finding the back of the net after another neat assist from Bellaili. Feghouli had come on for Baghdad Bounedjah at the start of the second half.
Despite going down, Burkina Faso kept the fight and earned the equalizer seven minutes to time from the spot after Djamel Benlamri clipped Mohamed Outtara’s heels inside the box.
However, they could not conjure a comeback as Algeria played a 33rd match without tasting defeat. But, they leave heads high as they are the only side to pick a point off the Algerians.
Elsewhere, Nigeria did the minimum required to progress to the play off round, the point against Cape Verde preserving their place on top.
They had a dream start when Victor Osimhen opened the scoring with a neat low finish after Moses Simon’s cross was poorly cleared out.
However, Cape Verde, who needed a win away from home to progress drew level five minutes later when Ianique dos Santos Tavares rushed sliding in at the backpost to connect to a Kenny Rocha Santos corner.