1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

Tournament details
Dates	April 1st 1976 - December 11th 1977
Teams	22[1] (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	41
Goals scored	119 (2.9 per match)
Attendance	1,197,425 (29,205 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Mahmoud El Khatib (6 Goals)
← 1974 1982 →

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.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Sierra Leone	6–3	Niger	5–1	1–2
Upper Volta	3–1	Mauritania	1–1	2–0

7 March 1976

Sierra Leone	5–1	Niger
Dumbuya 37', 68' Sounomu 57', 66' Tray 70'		Adamou 17'

National Stadium, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Attendance: 4,250

Referee: Aguiahr Komla Barto (Togo)

21 March 1976

Niger	2–1	Sierra Leone
Seydou 36' Kanfideni 52'		Sango 37'

Stade du 29 Juillet, Niamey, Niger

Attendance: 5,641

Referee: Thompson Shakirudeen Badru (Nigeria)

Sierra Leone won 6–3 on agg. and advanced to the first round.

13 March 1976

Upper Volta	1–1	Mauritania
Kaboré 44'		Coulibaly 68' (pen.)

Stade Municipal, Ouagadougou, Upper Volta

Attendance: 3,323

Referee: Adamou Mamoudou (Niger)

28 March 1976

Mauritania	0–2	Upper Volta
		Zoma 32' Ouattara 52'

Stade de la Capitale, Nouakchott, Mauritania

Attendance: 1,782

Referee: Mody Ba (Mali)

Upper Volta won 3–1 on agg. and advanced to the first round.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg	3rd leg
Algeria	1–0	Libya	1–0	0–0
Morocco	2–2 (2–4 p)	Tunisia	1–1	1–1
Togo	2–1	Senegal	1–0	1–1
Ghana	3–5	Guinea	2–1	1–2	0–2
Sierra Leone	2–6	Nigeria	0–0	2–6
Congo-Brazzaville	4–2	Cameroon	2–2	2–0
Upper Volta	1–3	Ivory Coast	1–1	0–2
Egypt	5–1	Ethiopia	3–0	2–1
Zambia	5–0	Malawi	4–0	1–0
Zaire	w/o	Central African Republic	—	—
Kenya	w/o	Sudan	—	—
Uganda	w/o	Tanzania	—	—

1 April 1976

Algeria	1–0	Libya
Betrouni 83'

5 July Stadium, Algiers, Algeria

Attendance: 15,267

Referee: Jean Dubach (Switzerland)

16 April 1976

Libya	0–0	Algeria

11 June Stadium, Tripoli, Libya

Attendance: 30,000

Referee: Emilio Guruceta Muro (Spain)

Algeria won 1–0 on agg. and advanced to the second round.

12 December 1976

Morocco	1–1	Tunisia
Lakhal 35'		Dhiab 56'

Stade Père Jégo, Casablanca, Morocco

Attendance: 13,056

Referee: Franz Wöhrer (Austria)

9 January 1977

Tunisia	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Morocco
Labidi 34'		Tahir 55'
Penalties
	4–2

Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia

Attendance: 44,500

Referee: Walter Hungerbühler (Switzerland)

The aggregate score was tied 2–2, but Tunisia won 4–2 on penalties in the second leg to advance to the second round. This was the first penalty shootout in a World Cup match.^[2]

17 October 1976

Togo	1–0	Senegal
Rachidou 87'

Stade Général Eyadema, Lomé, Togo

Attendance: 5,173

Referee: Dwomoh (Ghana)

31 October 1976

Senegal	1–1	Togo
Ba 63'		Afanou 58'

Stade Demba Diop, Dakar, Senegal

Attendance: 7,000

Referee: Abdelali (Morocco)

Togo won 2–1 on agg. and advanced to the second round.

10 October 1976

Ghana	2–1	Guinea
Kassum 57' Afriyie 83'		Y. Camara 52'

Accra Sports Stadium, Accra, Ghana

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Koudou (Ivory Coast)

31 October 1976

Guinea	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Ghana
Papa Camara 51' Keita 56'		Ansah 59'

Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea

Attendance: 20,000

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

Ghana	0–2	Guinea
		Papa Camara 3' S. Sylla 31'

Stade Général Eyadema, Lomé, Togo

Attendance: 13,482

Referee: N'diaye (Senegal)

Guinea advanced to the second round, via the play-off.

16 October 1976

Sierra Leone	0–0	Nigeria

Reckrie Stadium, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Attendance: 5,173

Referee: Turkson (Ghana)

30 October 1976

Nigeria	6–2	Sierra Leone
Odegbami 25' Atuegbu 31', 34' Usiyan 40' Emeteole 63' Awesu 77'		Dyfan 74' Sama 88' (pen.)

Surulere Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria

Attendance: 25,996

Referee: Matovu (Tanzania)

Nigeria won 6–2 on agg. and advanced to the second round.

17 October 1976

Congo-Brazzaville	2–2	Cameroon
Mounoudzi 66' (pen.) Wamba 76'		Milla 11' Onguene 35'

Stade de la Revolution, Brazzaville, Congo-Brazzaville

Attendance: 17,367

Referee: Gumboh (Zambia)

31 October 1976

Cameroon	0–2 Awarded[3] (1–2 82')	Congo-Brazzaville
Milla 7'		Ebomoa 19' N'Domba 52'

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon

Attendance: 26,050

Referee: Housainou N'Jai (Gambia)

Congo-Brazzaville won 4–2 on agg. and advanced to the second round.

4 September 1976

Upper Volta	1–1	Ivory Coast
Kaboré 70'		Bawa 36'

Stade Municipal, Ouagadougou, Upper Volta

Attendance: 5,418

Referee: N'diaye (Senegal)

26 September 1976

Ivory Coast	2–0	Upper Volta
Kouame 17' Kouman 34'

Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

Attendance: 5,960

Referee: Diagne (Guinea)

Côte d'Ivoire won 3–1 on agg. and advanced to the second round.

29 October 1976

Egypt	3–0	Ethiopia
El Khatib 4', 19', 77'

Nasser Stadium, Cairo, Egypt

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Gianfranco Menegali (Italy)

14 November 1976

Ethiopia	1–2	Egypt
Kassahun 40'		El Khatib 12', 73'

Addis Ababa Stadium, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: Wurtz (France)

Egypt won 5–1 on agg. and advanced to the second round.

9 May 1976

Zambia	4–0	Malawi
Chanda 4' Phiri 12', 75' Chamangwana 88' (o.g.)

7 April Stadium, Lusaka, Zambia

Attendance: 16,000

Referee: Muamba Kabwe (Zaire)

30 May 1976

Malawi	0–1	Zambia
		Kapita 48'

Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre, Malawi

Attendance: 8,230

Referee: Charles Randrianaly (Madagascar)

Zambia won 5–0 on agg. and advanced to the second round.

Zaire	w/o	Central African Republic
		Withdrew

Central African Republic withdrew, so Zaire advanced to the second round automatically.

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.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Tunisia	3–1	Algeria	2–0	1–1
Togo	1–4	Guinea	0–2	1–2
Ivory Coast	6–3	Congo-Brazzaville	3–2	3–1
Kenya	0–1	Egypt	0–0	0–1
Uganda	3–4	Zambia	1–0	2–4 (aet)
Nigeria	w/o	Zaire	—	—

6 February 1977

Tunisia	2–0	Algeria
Akid 56' Kaabi 73'

Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia

Attendance: 39,987

Referee: Antoine Queudeville (Luxembourg)

28 February 1977

Algeria	1–1	Tunisia
Guendouz 34'		Jebali 89'

5 July stadium, Algiers, Algeria

Attendance: 80,000

Referee: Paul Bonett (Malta)

Tunisia won 3–1 on agg. and advanced to the third round.

13 February 1977

Togo	0–2	Guinea
		Bangoura 15' Souleymane 84'

Stade Général Eyadema, Lomé, Togo

Attendance: 7,976

Referee: Felix Balloux (Ivory Coast)

27 February 1977

Guinea	2–1	Togo
Papa Camara 36' Tollo 40' (pen.)		Ametepé 55'

Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea

Attendance: 11,892

Referee: Tanor Dieng (Senegal)

Guinea won 4–1 on agg. and advanced to the third round.

13 February 1977

Ivory Coast	3–2	Congo-Brazzaville
G'Bize 10' Mamahou 20' Kouman 81'		Bahamboula 36' N'Domba 89'

Municipal Stadium, Bouaké, Ivory Coast

Attendance: 3,600

Referee: Dwomoh (Ghana)

27 February 1977

Congo-Brazzaville	1–3	Ivory Coast
Lingongo 23'		Kouman 10' Miézan 38' G'Bize 82'

Stade de la Révolution, Brazzaville, Congo-Brazzaville

Attendance: 70,000

Referee: Festus Okubule (Nigeria)

Ivory Coast won 6–3 on agg. and advanced to the third round.

6 February 1977

Kenya	0–0	Egypt

Nairobi City Stadium, Nairobi, Kenya

Attendance: 8,337

Referee: Ahmed Jama (Somalia)

27 February 1977

Egypt	1–0	Kenya
Khalil 13'

Nasser Stadium, Cairo, Egypt

Attendance: 70,000

Referee: El-Ghoul (Libya)

Egypt won 1–0 on agg. and advanced to the third round.

13 February 1977

Uganda	1–0	Zambia
Ouma 73'

Nakivubo Stadium, Kampala, Uganda

Attendance: 11,940

Referee: Ismael Yusuf Kemal (Ethiopia)

27 February 1977

Zambia	4–2 (a.e.t.)	Uganda
Chola 28' Chanda 34' Chitalu 85', 106'		Nasur 14' Obua 74'

Dag Hammarskjöld Stadium, Ndola, Zambia

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Gratian Matovu (Tanzania)

Zambia won 4–3 on agg. and advanced to the third round.

Nigeria	w/o	Zaire
		Withdrew

Zaire withdrew, so Nigeria advanced to the third round automatically.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Guinea	2–3	Tunisia	1–0	1–3
Nigeria	6–2	Ivory Coast	4–0	2–2
Egypt	2–0	Zambia	2–0	0–0

5 June 1977

Guinea	1–0	Tunisia
I. Sylla 77'

Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Mohamed Larache (Morocco)

19 June 1977

Tunisia	3–1	Guinea
Liman 9' Lahzami 59' Khouini 62'		A. Sylla 11'

Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia

Attendance: 35,248

Referee: Hussein Fahmy Bahig (Egypt)

Tunisia won 3–2 on agg. and advanced to the Final Round.

10 July 1977

Nigeria	4–0	Ivory Coast
Usiyan 7', 30' Iwelumo 18' Ojebode 56' (pen.)

Surulere Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria

Attendance: 29,815

Referee: Nyirenda Chayu (Zambia)

25 July 1977

Ivory Coast	2–2	Nigeria
Mamahou 37', 58'		Odegbami 74' Amiesimaka 89'

Municipal Stadium, Bouaké, Ivory Coast

Attendance: 2,040

Referee: Youssou N'Diaye (Senegal)

Nigeria won 6–2 on agg. and advanced to the Final Round.

15 July 1977

Egypt	2–0	Zambia
Gaafar 29' Hammam 49'

Nasser Stadium, Cairo, Egypt

Attendance: 35,746

Referee: Alberto Michelotti (Italy)

31 July 1977

Zambia	0–0	Egypt

7 April Stadium, Lusaka, Zambia

Attendance: 30,165

Referee: Gordon (Scotland)

Egypt won 2–0 on agg. and 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

Stade El Menzah, Tunis

Attendance: 38,229

Referee: John Carpenter (Republic of Ireland)

8 October 1977

Nigeria	4–0	Egypt
Chukwu 24' Odegbami 54', 67' N'Wadioha 74'

Surulere Stadium, Lagos

Attendance: 25,932

Referee: César da Luz Dias Correia (Portugal)

21 October 1977

Egypt	3–1	Nigeria
Abdou 11', 27' Mokhtar 50'		Iwelumo 75'

Nasser Stadium, Cairo

Attendance: 90,000

Referee: Emmanuel Platopoulos (Greece)

12 November 1977

Nigeria	0–1	Tunisia
		Odiye 61' (o.g.)

Surulere Stadium, Lagos

Attendance: 80,000

Referee: Ernst Dörflinger (Switzerland)

25 November 1977

Egypt	3–2	Tunisia
Gaafar 26' (pen.) Abdou 53' El Khatib 83'		Ben Aziza 80' Akid 87'

Nasser Stadium, Cairo

Attendance: 85,000

Referee: Hilmi Ok (Turkey)

11 December 1977

Tunisia	4–1	Egypt
Akid 15' Lahzami 42' Ben Aziza 65' Labidi 75'		Abdel Baki 80'

Stade El Menzah, Tunis

Attendance: 42,850

Referee: Gianfranco Menegali (Italy)

Tunisia qualified.

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
Tunisia	Final Round winners	11 December 1977	0 (debut)

¹ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

6 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

• 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification
• 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
• 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
• 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
• 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)

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