Cape Town - The final round of Africa's qualifying matches for the 2022 Fifa World Cup Qatar starts on Friday with 10 thrilling clashes. The second leg will be played on Tuesday.
The final play-off games will see 10 countries vying for the continent's five slots at the World Cup to be played in Qatar later this year.
It promises to be thrilling as the continent's heavyweights come up against each other in two-legged matches to decide which sides qualify for the global competition.
The highlight of the matches will be between Africa Cup of Nations finalists Senegal and Egypt as well as the clash between long-standing arch-rivals Ghana and Nigeria.
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Cameroon will take on Algeria in another fiery encounter, Mali play Tunisia in a tricky tie while DR Congo clash with Morocco.
The matches are expected to be fiery thanks to the presence of some of the world's best footballers in all the teams that will play in the final round of qualifiers.
With the qualifiers starting just hours away, CAFOnline.com selects five of the players expected to shine on the path to Qatar 2022.
Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)
The Desert Foxes will be relying on the Manchester City winger Mahrez to weave the magic against their tough opponents Cameroon to qualify for Qatar. Algeria, who were winners of the 2019 TotalEnergies, were unimpressive when defending their title last month and were eliminated at the group stage. They are hoping to appease their fans and with Mahrez in the squad, the Foxes are confident he would replicate the form that has seen him score 22 goals in all competitions for the English giants so far this season. The winger, who can also play in attack, was instrumental when Leicester City won the English Premier League title for the first time in the 2018/2019 season. He has since moved to Manchester City where has also bagged several titles.
Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon)
The Indomitable Lions will be counting on the ingenuity of the Saudi Arabia-based striker who has led the side with aplomb in recent games. The attacker, who has so far scored eight times for Al Nassr in 22 outings, was instrumental in when Cameroon finished third at the country’s recent hosting of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations. With eight goals in seven matches, Aboubakar was the top scorer of the AFCON and made the Team of the Tournament. He must be at his best for Cameroon to be able to defeat the wounded Algerians in their two-legged matches.
Theo Bongonda (DR Congo)
DR Congo are chasing their first World Cup appearance in 48 years with their first and only showing being in the 1974 competition when they were known as Zaire.
The Belgium-born player is widely seen as the man to steer the side to the World Cup against Morocco who have been impressive in their qualifiers.
Despite the presence of top players like Chancel Mbemba, Bongonda is the new favourite of the side having switched nationality from Belgium to play for the country of his father.
The speedy player, who has scored 10 goals for Genk in the Belgian top-flight this season, will add to the already strong attacking force of the Congolese.
Bongonda, a former youth international for Belgium, applied to switch allegiance and his talent will come in handy to help the Central African nation to outwit the Atlas Lions.
Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
The eagerly awaited rematch between AFCON finalists Senegal and Egypt requires big-name players and Salah is certainly among the best in the world.
The Liverpool superstar is seeking to appease the teeming fans of the Pharaohs who are still reeling from the pain of losing the final to this week's opponent just last month.
Salah has been one of the best players for his country over the past few years and his 28 goals in 36 appearances for Liverpool this season has made him a feared striker.
With ten assists at club level this term, Egypt are confident he will come up when most needed to help them edge Senegal and qualify.
Thomas Partey (Ghana)
In the absence of suspended captain Andre Ayew, Partey replaced the Al Sadd playmaker as the most influential Black Stars player.
The Arsenal star has seen some revival in his fortunes with the English side who named their Player of the Month for February.
The former Atletico Madrid has scored ten goals in 27 appearances for the Black Stars demonstrating his importance for the four-time African champions.
Against their arch-rivals Nigeria, the midfielder will have the freedom to join the attack which should be a headache for the Super Eagles.
CAFOnline