Africa Zone have 1 spot left

Four of the five qualifying slots in the Africa Zone have now been taken, with Cameroon and Nigeria joining Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire on a highly dramatic day. While the Indomitable Lions won as expected in Morocco, the Super Eagles produced a late rally in Kenya to steal a ticket to South Africa 2010 from under the noses of Tunisia.

There was even more drama in the day’s final game as Egypt recorded a thrilling 2-0 win over Algeria to set up a play-off between the two in Sudan on Wednesday.

FIFA.com rounds up all the action on the final day of qualifying in the Africa Zone.

Game of the day
Egypt 2-0 Algeria
Goals: Amr Zaki 2, Emad Moteab 90+5

Needing to win by two clear goals to force a play-off against the Algerians next week, Egypt did just that on a tense evening at the International Stadium in Cairo. And if the excitement the two sides generated in this Group C finale is anything to go by, the showdown in Sudan on Wednesday should be a cracker.

The Pharaohs took an early lead in a helter-skelter opening, though the Desert Foxes recovered their poise and had chances to equalise either side of half-time though Antar Yahia and Rafik Saifi. The visitors paid for their profligacy in injury time, however, and could even have been eliminated altogether had Egypt’s Mohamed Barakat not missed a gilt-edged chance in the sixth-minute of stoppage time.

Surprise of the day
Mozambique 1-0 Tunisia
Goal: Dario 83

The Carthage Eagles led the way in Group B right from the start, taking a sixth-minute lead in their opening game in Kenya and running out 2-1 winners to take to the top of the section. Still out front at the start of this the final game, the Tunisians came within just seven minutes of seeing the job through and claiming a place in the finals. At just about the same time that Dario capped Mozambique’s domination in Maputo with the only goal of the match, Obafemi Martins was netting Nigeria’s winner in Kenya, capping a cruelly deflating afternoon for Humberto Coelho’s luckless side.

Player of the day
Obafemi Martins (NGA)

To reach the finals Nigeria needed to win in Kenya and pray that Mozambique did them a favour at home to group leaders Tunisia. Trailing 1-0 at half-time, the Super Eagles were indebted to the Wolfsburg striker for pulling them level on the hour mark. And with the score tied at 2-2 with just seven minutes remaining, Martins popped up again to score the winner. The former Inter Milan forward could hardly have chosen a better game to open his account in the qualifying competition and when news filtered through that the Mozambicans had won 1-0, the Nigerians celebrated their late escape.

The stat
1 - Togo ended a wait of 25 years and eight matches as they beat Gabon for the first time. Following five defeats and two draws against the Gabonese, the Sparrowhawks ran out winners on Saturday thanks to Floyd Ama Ayite’s 70th minute strike, which also secured them a ticket to the 2010 CAF African Cup of Nations.

What they said
"It was a very good outing - very explosive. But we fought to win and despite going down 1-0 we still came bac. Qualifying is fantastic. Now we have to go back home and map out the preparations," Shaibu Amodu, Nigeria coach.

Saturday’s results:
Mozambique 1-0 Tunisia
Kenya 2-3 Nigeria
Rwanda 0-0 Zambia
Morocco 0-2 Cameroon
Togo 1-0 Gabon
Burkina Faso 1-0 Malawi
Côte d'Ivoire 3-0 Guinea
Sudan 1-2 Benin
Egypt 2-0 Algeria