Vanuatu visited New Caledonia in a match that had to be a victory for both sides. Anything less than a win would send Vanuatu home for good, meaning their two matches against Fiji in September would just be glorified friendlies. A loss by New Caledonia would have left them with no control over their destiny. Even two wins over New Zealand in September would be for naught if New Zealand could beat Fiji in November. Vanuatu’s Ken Masauvakalo committed a fatal error in the twelfth minute; he took a red card. Vanuatu had no luck playing a man down, and New Caledonia had a 1-0 lead at the half. In the second, the French colony added two more for a 3-0 victory that eliminated both Vanuatu and Fiji from World Cup contention.New Caledonia have eight points and New Zealand have nine. The two teams play twice in a home-and-home series in September, but New Zealand have one more game to play. If New Zealand win just one of the two games, they will advance to the Asia/Oceania playoff. If both games are ties, New Zealand advance. If New Caledonia win both games, they advance to the playoff. If New Caledonia win one game and tie the other, they will have a two-point lead. If New Zealand do not beat Fiji in this scenario, the Caledonians advance. If New Zealand do beat Fiji after grabbing one point against the Caledonians, they advance to the playoff.
Swaziland visited Zambia in an attempt to keep sole possession of first place in the group. Zakhele Manyatsi did not help the Swazi cause by getting sent off in first-half stoppage time. Remarkably, tee Swazis kept the game scoreless and were poised to steal an important road point before conceding a penalty score five minutes from time. The 1-0 win puts Zambia in a first-place tie with Swaziland with one game left to play. Togo are one point behind and have an extra game left. FIFA have changed their initial ruling, and only results against the first and third-place finishers in a group determine the rankings of the second-place teams, so the teams from Group K have a legitimate shot of finishing second and moving on to Round Two.
Sierra Leone visited South Africa looking to build upon their recent home win over the World Cup hosts. South Africa continued to embarrass themselves by suffering through a scoreless tie at home. Sierra Leone won the yellow card battle on the afternoon 3-2. South Africa are currently the twelfth of twelve second-place teams, so they need to be Nigeria at home to have any shot of advancing to the second round.
Tanzania took a shot at Cameroon in Yaoundé after grabbing a draw against the Cameroonians at home last week. After a scoreless first half, Cameroon grabbed a 1-0 lead only to see the visitors return the favor with under fifteen minutes to go. A frantic effort near the whistle provided the go-ahead goal for Cameroon with less than two minutes to play in regulation, and they won 2-1 to take the lead in Group A. If they beat Cape Verde on the road in September, Cameroon will clinch a spot in Round Two.
Visiting Equatorial Guinea faced Nigeria, who were glad to welcome back Nwankwo Kanu. Nigeria pulled ahead at the stroke of halftime during stoppage time, and then continued their suffocating defense. An extra goal with under ten minutes to play ended the tally at 2-0. Nigeria win Group D and become the first time to guarantee a place in CAF’s Round Two. Nigeria have not conceded a goal through four matches and have grabbed four wins in the process.
Goal scorers:
New Caledonia: Wajoka 36; Hmae 60; Diaike 87
Zambia: Katongo 86 PK
Cameroon: Eto'o 67, 89
Tanzania: Mrwanda 78
Nigeria: Yakubu 45+1; Uche 84
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