Ghana 1st African team to qualify for World Cup in Qatar

Ghana became the first team from Africa to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar after a 1-1 draw with Nigeria in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday to advance on away goals.

Thomas Partey scored the decisive goal for Ghana in the 10th minute in Abuja. William Troost-Ekong equalized for Nigeria with a penalty in the 22nd but Nigeria couldn't use its home advantage to get a winner.

The teams drew 0-0 in Ghana last week in the first leg.

The result soothes the pain of a terrible African Cup of Nations campaign for Ghana, when the four-time African champion was eliminated in the group stage in Cameroon in January.

It also gave new coach and former Ghana player Otto Addo immediate success. He was brought in to lead the team when Milovan Rajevac was fired after that African Cup failure.

Ghana will return to the World Cup after missing out on the 2018 tournament in Russia.

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