FIRST ROUND
Nobody knew it at the time [though there were probably some who were expecting it], but this would be the last time that African nations would compete in a standalone World Cup qualification tournament. At the 2002 African Cup of Nations in Mali, the Confédération Africaine de Football decided to permit future editions of the African championship tournament to serve as World Cup qualification. This was done because concurrent qualification for both events was stretching many national associations' commitments.

The draw for this final African qualification tournament split the fifty participating nations into twenty five pairings. Each would contest a playoff in APR 2000 on a home and away basis. For the most part, the upper seeded teams had little trouble brushing aside their opponents. The lower seeded teams were a combined 6-7-12 in the opening legs, which they hosted. Uganda played to a wild 4-4 draw with higher seeded Guinea, a match that saw five goals in the last twenty minutes. Libya ran out 3-0 winners over Mali in Tripoli.

But there were few surprises on the weekend of FRI 21-SUN 23 APR 2000, when the second legs were played. Only two of the visitors could muster so much as a draw, one of them Chad against Liberia. Malawi got a goalless draw in Nairobi, Kenya, which combined with their 2-0 home win to put them through. The 23 other higher seeded teams won their home legs, but three of them lost their series. Gabon's 1-0 win over Madagascar did not offset their 2-0 away loss earlier, and the Sudan came within 2-1 at Mozambique to tie the series 2-2 and win it on the away goals rule. In Bamako, visitors Libya scored on the stroke of halftime and weathered the Malian storm of three second half goals, including two by Brehima TRAORE, to win the series on a 4-3 aggregate scoreline.

Uganda's heroics in the first leg were for naught as the Guinea made short work of them, winning 3-0 on a pair from Pascal FEINDOUNO. Congo DR came back from their 1-1 draw at Djibouti to level their opponents 9-1 in the back leg. The five African teams at France 1998 all moved through with little difficulty. Cameroon defeated Somalia 6-0 on aggregate, Tunisia rolled past Mauritania 5-1, and Nigeria recovered from a 0-0 draw at Eritrea with a 4-0 home win.

The Chad-Liberia second leg, which ended 0-0 and put Liberia through on aggregate 1-0, was darkened by a surge in the stands that left three spectators dead. Every continent has had its share of football-related tragedies, perhaps none more than Africa. Overwhelming passion for football, combined with security that is often inadequate or poorly trained, added to reckless match organisers who rarely give heed to maximum capacity figures for stadiums, all too often result in disaster.

SECOND ROUND
The 25 teams who were left were then drawn into five groups of five teams each, and the winner of each group would qualify. Seeded at the group heads were the France 1998 quintet of Cameroon, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tunisia. Nigeria's Group B opponents were highlighted by Liberia and Ghana, whilst Egypt, Algeria, and Senegal would challenge Morocco in Group C. On paper, Cameroon in Group A looked to have the easiest road to Korea/Japan 2002, with none of Angola, Libya, Togo, or Zambia thought to pose a serious threat.

The action opened on FRI 16 JUN 2000 in Annaba, where Senegal picked up a 1-1 draw away to Algeria. Côte d'Ivoire managed a 2-2 draw with Tunisia later in the weekend. The Guinea defeated Zimbabwe 3-0 in Conakry.

Another fatal stampede

Zimbabwe then hosted the Republic of South Africa, who had a bye in the opening weekend. The match on SUN 09 JUL 2000 was not going well for the homestanding Warriors, who gave up two goals, both by Delron BUCKLEY. Buckley's second goal came in the 83rd minute, and disappointed fans then started throwing bottles onto the pitch at Harare's National Stadium. Police officers, who had reportedly been taunted throughout the match with salutes of Zimbabwe's opposition political party, suddenly began firing tear gas into the stands. The 60,000 supporters in attendance rushed for the exits as players from both sides tried to shield themselves by lying face down on the pitch.

When the fallout became known, it was said to be the worst sport-related tragedy in Zimbabwe's history. Thirteen spectators died in the rush for the exits, and many others sustained injuries both from the waves of escaping people and from being struck by flying objects. Zimbabwe's president, Robert MUGABE, blamed the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, for inciting the unrest. Most observers, though, stated unequivocally that crowd trouble was not to blame, pinning the responsibility squarely upon the shoulders of the police. It certainly did not help that the match was played two weeks after national elections, in which Mugabe's ruling party barely maintained its majority in the parliament.

In some respects, it was fortunate that the match happened to fall on the last day before a six month break in the qualifying action. FIFA and CAF therefore had some time to launch an investigation. The most immediate action taken was to ban National Stadium from hosting international matches. In DEC 2000, FIFA decided to uphold the 2-0 result despite the eight remaining minutes at the time of abandonment. Benni MCCARTHY had been suspended for two matches due to behaviour that allegedly baited the crowd, but the ban was overturned on appeal. Immediately after the match, McCarthy was quoted as saying that he would never play with Bafana Bafana in Africa again.

Uncertainty over Guinea, Congo

The resumption of CAF qualifiers at the weekend of FRI 26-SUN 28 JAN 2001 featured wins by Nigeria and Liberia to go top of Group B, a third straight win for Cameroon, and a 3-1 win by Côte d'Ivoire at Madagascar, which was interrupted by stormy weather in Antananarivo and resumed the following day.

The Guinea drew 1-1 with Malawi in Group E, which gave them seven points through three matches and a one point lead over South Africa. The following day, the Guinea's sports minister Cheik Abdelkader SANGARE dissolved the Guinea Football Federation, a clear violation of FIFA's statutes relating to the separation of football and state. In response, FIFA slapped down an ultimatum: Reinstate the GFF's board by THU 15 FEB 2001 or face suspension.

The deadline was extended by two weeks, but on FRI 02 MAR 2001, the Guinea were suspended from international football. Given a further two weeks to meet FIFA's demands, the Guinea continued to ignore the calls for reform. On MON 19 MAR 2001, the Guinea were disqualified from the World Cup qualification tournament. Shortly thereafter, the decision was made to nullify the three matches - wins against Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso, and the Malawi draw - that they had already played.

Meanwhile, the Congo abruptly decided to withdraw from qualification just days before a scheduled SAT 24 FEB 2001 match against Madagascar, saying that the country's limited resources would best be spent attempting to reach the 2002 African Cup of Nations. Many have called this the episode that prompted CAF to consolidate the ACN with World Cup qualification. At a meeting with Congolese officials in Zürich, FIFA warned that withdrawal would make the Congo liable to a fine and would disqualify them from entering qualifying for the 2006 Men's World Cup. The association backed down and agreed to play out their six remaining matches.

By this point, it was the start of APR 2001, and most teams had played out half their schedule. Cameroon had won all four matches, scoring nine goals and allowing none. South Africa's three wins were good for a three point Group E lead over nearest opponents Zimbabwe. The Sudan were the only team to beat Liberia, and Nigeria were the only team to beat the Sudan, which left Liberia and the Sudan tied atop Group B. Tunisia held a three point lead over Côte d'Ivoire, but the Elephants had played three matches to Tunisia's four. Finally, there was gridlock in Group C, where a swarm of draws resulted in a three way tie for first amongst Senegal with a +4 goal difference, Egypt on +3, and Morocco on +1.

All to play for

The qualification tournament wasted no time in surprising the hell out of everyone. Last placed Sierra Leone entered a home match against Nigeria with no points and no goals scored - and left 1-0 winners. Liberia, with a 2-0 win over the Sudan, now had a three point lead, and the Super Eagles were five points off the pace. That week, Nigeria's Dutch coach Jo BONFRERE was sacked. He had originally claimed that he would step down if the team lost but did not follow through - the players implored him to stay and held a meeting with the Nigerian Football Association asking officials not to remove him.

The last three match dates all fell in the summer, starting with the weekend of FRI 29 JUN-SUN 01 JUL 2001. Group C headed straight for the wire as Morocco defeated Egypt 1-0. That sent the Atlas Lions to the top with 15 points - a point at Senegal two weeks later would be sufficient to book their place at the Men's World Cup. Liberia's nearly certain ticket to Korea/Japan 2002 was a thing of the past with their 2-1 home loss to Ghana. In their previous match in MAY 2001, they lost 2-0 to Nigeria, and now with the Ghana loss and Nigeria's 4-0 win at the Sudan, their lead had evaporated. Yakubu AIYEGBENI had scored two goals to put his Nigerian side a point in front of Liberia, putting the Super Eagles' destiny in their own wings.

It was Cameroon and South Africa who grabbed the first of CAF's five World Cup berths. The Indomitable Lions sent their 40,000 fans in Yaoundé home happy with a 2-0 win over Togo, winning their sixth of seven matches in Group A. Burkina Faso awoke in the last fifteen minutes against South Africa, getting an equaliser from Alain NANA but unable to score the second goal that would have prevented Bafana Bafana from qualifying. In Group D, Côte d'Ivoire had to be feeling good about themselves when they defeated Madagascar 6-0 at home, but two hours later word came from Tunis that leaders Tunisia had bulldozed the Congo by the same scoreline. Two weeks afterward, Tunisia ran away with their final match, dropping a 3-0 anvil on Congo DR. Côte d'Ivoire tried to keep up and finally broke through the Congolese defense with a goal by Mamadou COULIBALY in the 81st minute. Two minutes later, though, Walter BAKOUMA equalised on a penalty awarded to the Congo, leaving the final 1-1 and eliminating the visitors.

Hostile crowds, joyous throngs

Morocco's last match on SAT 14 JUL 2001 was to have been their coronation as Group C champions, but the memo apparently did not reach Dakar. El Hadji Ousseynou DIOUF scored in the 17th minute, and Morocco never recovered, going down 1-0. That result, combined with Egypt's six goal win against Namibia, put both Senegal and Egypt within three points of Morocco. If either of the former two won - Egypt at Algeria and Senegal at Namibia - Morocco would be eliminated. Egypt had the best goal difference of the three.

The exciting three way finish took some effort to set up. Due to sporting concerns, FIFA had to ensure that both ties kicked off simultaneously. Summer afternoon heat in Algeria prevented that match from taking place early, whereas the lighting conditions in Windhoek prevented that match from taking place late. Eventually the organisers all agreed to a kickoff at 15:00 UTC on SAT 21 JUL 2001, and the action could commence. Nine minutes into the second half at Annaba, a penalty was awarded to Egypt, and Ahmad HOSSAM made no mistake from the spot. Some spectators then started to throw bottles and stones onto the pitch, and the match had to be halted for fifteen minutes under the barrage. The delay meant that Senegal's match ended earlier - the Lions winning by a comfortable 5-0 margin - and so Egypt knew that they would need two more clear goals.

But Yacine BEZZAZ delighted the home crowd, as well as the citizens of Senegal, with an 80th minute goal, and the match finished 1-1. Cheering crowds filled Independence Square in Dakar, carrying photographs of players and shouting "Yaye diambar", meaning "You're heroes" in the local language of Wolof. Egypt asked FIFA for a replay of the match, saying that the crowd trouble created a hostile environment. The team had to leave the stadium with a police escort an hour after the final whistle, as fans were still hanging around throwing things. The request was denied, and Senegal's first trip to a World Cup was secure.

Shaibu AMODU took over the Nigerian side when Bonfrere was ousted and led the team to two wins. Their final test was a home match against Ghana, with Liberia ready to win the group if their nearest rivals could not win. Longtime Liberian star George WEAH, described by many as the best player never to go to a World Cup, was again denied as the Super Eagles ran out 3-0 winners. Amodu was then handed control of the team through the Men's World Cup. NFA vice chair Nwabufor OBIEFOR said, "We're sticking with Shaibu and his assistants all through the World Cup this time." Of course, Amodu was sent packing after the African Cup of Nations in FEB 2002, another example of the impatience that has long stood between Africa and international success.