Liberia End World Cup Qualifiers with 3-1 Win over C.A.R.
Liberia players celebrate after Marcus Macauley scored the opening goal.
Liberia got their second and final victory in Group C of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers with a 3-1 win over the Central African Republic at the Stade Ibn Batouta in Morocco on Tuesday.
Both Liberia and the Central African Republic went into Tuesday’s match with just pride and records to play for, as both teams had dropped out of the race for the qualifiers.
It took just two minutes for Liberia to break the deadlock after Oscar Dorley’s cross into the box was headed in by Marcus Marculey to give Lone Star an early lead.
Liberia made it 2-0 in the 8th minute when defender Mark Pabai brilliantly connected striker Peter Wilson with a long through ball that saw Wilson recording his first international goal through a low placement in the bottom right corner of C.A.R’s goalpost.
C.A.R got an opportunity in the 30th minute after defender Jamal Arago committed a foul in the box, but Karl Namnganda wasted the opportunity for the visitors as his spot-kick rolled inches away from the goal post.
The score remained 2-0 at half time with Liberia looking to increase their goal tally in the second and final half.
Liberia could have gotten the third goal in the 51st minute after Brem Soumaora received a perfect pass from Seth Hellberg, but his left-footed strike from outside the box was diverted over the crossbar by the goalkeeper. The visitors pulled one back 61 minutes down the clock after Lone Star’s defense struggled their defensive lines from a corner kick.
However, Liberia made it 3-1 in the 73rd minute, thanks to Marcus Macauley for providing the assist for Wilson to complete his brace. The result made Liberia finish third in the group with six points from six games, while C.A.R finished bottom of the group with four points.
Elsewhere, group leaders Nigeria finished top of the group, two points ahead of Cape Verde to progress to the playoffs round of the qualifiers.
Nigeria drew 1-1 with Cape Verde at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos on Tuesday night.
Nigeria is one of ten group winners that will be drawn into five home-and-away ties. The winners of each fixture will advance to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
