10 Star African players from the first round of WCQ's

by Staff Reporter

Wednesday Sep 11, 2019. 12:00

AfricanFootball.com takes a look at the Top 10 performers from the first round of 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.

A total of 14 teams booked their place in the group stage qualifiers following home-and-away fixtures scattered across the African continent over the last seven days.

Africa’s road to Qatar continues next year. Here are the Top 10 players from the first round of qualifiers:

Khama Billiat

The Kaizer Chiefs attacker saved Zimbabwe from an embarrassing aggregate defeat to Somalia, netting a 92nd minute goal in Harare on Tuesday to send the Warriors into the second round of qualifying.

Ashley Williams

Williams, Liberia’s 18-year-old goalkeeper, saved a stoppage-time penalty in Freetown to seal Liberia’s passage into the group stages at the expense of Sierra Leone.

Peter Shalulile

The Namibian forward scored in home and away wins for Namibia as they secured an aggregate victory over Eritrea.

Joseph Mendes

The French-Based forward scored a decisive brace to lead Guinea-Bissau into the second round of qualifiers for the first time in the country’s history.

Innocent Hankuye

The Djibouti goalkeeper kept a desperate eSwatini side at bay in a 0-0 draw in Manzini as the country avoided defeat in a World Cup qualifier for the very first time.

Emilio Nsue

Equatorial Guinea’s record goalscorer and captain, scored the decisive goal in the country’s aggregate win over a gritty South Sudan outfit in Malabo.

Ramadan Agab

The Sudanese footballer scored the only hat-trick of the first round; finding the back of the net on three occasions for his country in a 3-1 first-leg win away to Chad. The reverse fixture ended in a goalless draw.

Meddie Kagere

Kagere scored three goals in two games, including a brace in Rwanda’s 7-0 thrashing of Seychelles in Kigali on Tuesday.

Anwar Shakunda

Somalia might have missed out on a place in the second round, but Shakunda still fired his country to an historic win over Zimbabwe in the first-leg clash between the two nations. Ranked at 202nd in the world, Somalia are the lowest ranked country on the content (alongside Eritrea).

Mbwana Samatta

The Tanzania skipper captained his side into the second round, netting an important goal in the second-leg as the Taifa Stars edged past a strong Burundi outfit.