Guinea and DR Congo will wrap up the weekend’s 2018 World Cup qualifiers when they meet in a Group A clash in Conakry on Sunday evening. The match will be staged at the Stade du 28 Septembre, kick-off at 19h30.
Guinea opened their group stage campaign with a 2-0 loss away to Tunisia in Monastir last month, with goals from Aymen Abdennour and Anis Ben-Hatira seeing the Carthage Eagles to all three points and setting the National Elephants back in their hopes of qualifying for a first World Cup.
DRC had no such troubles in dismissing Libya in their opening group game: a brace from Dieumerci Mbokani and further goals from Jonathan Bolingi and Firmin Mubele saw the Leopards to an emphatic 4-0 victory in Kinshasa which sees them topping the standings.
“We couldn’t have wished for a better start,” DRC defender Gabriel Zakuani told FIFA.com.
“It was a real confidence boost to win at home by such a large margin and go top of the group – it was ideal! Of course, that match was just one step, and our upcoming match in Guinea is the next one. But one thing is certain: we’re heading in the right direction.”
National Elephants coach Lappe Bangoura wishes his team had claimed a draw in Tunisia, and sees the next match against the Leopards as another tough assignment.
“Our first game was in Tunisia and a draw there would have been a very good result,” Bangoura told FIFA.com.
“We now face the DR Congo. That means our opening matches are against the favourites. These are two very important matches. But we must not discount Libya. They qualified for the final round because they are a good side.”
The teams have met seven times in official international matches according to FIFA’s statistics, with each claiming three wins against the other. This will be their first meeting in a World Cup qualifier.
The other Group A match this weekend sees Libya and Tunisia meet in Algiers on Friday evening, kick-off at 21h00.
