The Democratic Republic of the Congo kept their hopes of a World Cup place alive as they edged Nigeria 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the end of extra time to win the African qualifying playoffs in Morocco.

DR Congo now await the draw on Thursday for the inter-confederation playoffs in March, where six teams will chase two places at the 48-team finals .

Captain Chancel Mbemba converted the decisive kick on Sunday after Congolese substitute goalkeeper Timothy Fayulu, brought on a minute before the shootout, made two saves.

Frank Onyeka had Nigeria ahead in the third minute, but Meschack Elia equalised for the two sides to be level 1-1 after extra time.

The mini-tournament in Rabat was for the best runners-up across the nine African qualifying groups, whose fixtures were comple

See Full Page