Congo Republic vs Niger Prediction & Betting Tips - World Cup

Prediction published on 06/06/2024, 03:22  by Devesh Jaganath in World Cup Predictions

Congo will resume their CAF World Cup qualification campaign this week when they play host to Niger on Thursday afternoon. The hosts are currently fourth in the group standings, while the visitors are third. Congo are looking to reach the World Cup for the first time in their history, having failed to get past the group stage of qualifying in seven previous attempts. They enter this match second-bottom in the standings, though they have only played one match so far owing to Eritrea’s withdrawal from the competition. Les Diables’ sole match in these qualifiers was against Zambia back in November, which they lost 4-2. Since then, they have only taken the field once, in an international friendly against Gabon in March that ended in a 1-1 draw. With those results, Congo are now winless in their last four matches in all competitions and have only earned one victory in their last eight. These sides played out a goalless draw when they last met at the start of 2023, but the hosts are marginal favourites in this one. 

Meanwhile, Niger are also hoping to secure qualification to the World Cup for the first time, but it is worth mentioning that they have never even qualified for the AFCON in their history either. Nevertheless, they have notched up three points from their first two games, pulling off an against-the-odds 2-1 victory over Zambia in their second match of the competition. Since then, Le Mena have played three international friendlies and failed to win any, including a 1-0 loss to Senegal, a 2-1 home defeat to Togo, and 1-1 draw away to Burkina Faso in March. On the road, Niger are winless in their last 13 matches in all competitions - a record that spans all the way back to September 2021, when they beat Djibouti. The visitors have not beaten this opponent in five previous attempts, losing two and drawing three, dating back to June 2012.