OFFICIAL: Spain will face Equatorial Guinea

Spain travels to Equatorial Guinea on Saturday and will be expected to cruise to victory against the African minnow.

Vicente del Bosque's men are the reigning World and European champions and currently sit atop the FIFA Ranking.

Equatorial Guinea, meanwhile, is 119th and without a victory in five matches. The team's highest ranked opposition in that run was Tunisia, which sits 47th.

The outlook is not good for the home side as it welcome a Spanish team that has lost just one of its last 32 fixtures - a 3-0 defeat to Brazil in the Confederations Cup.

The African nation finished bottom of its World Cup qualifying group without recording a single victory, while Spain edged out France to progress automatically from the European campaign.

Diego Costa - Atletico Madrid's Brazil-born forward who was tipped to make his debut for Spain - has been forced to withdraw from the squad with a torn muscle in his right leg, and he joins Cesc Fabregas (knee) on the sidelines.

Fernando Llorente and Marc Bartra have been called up as replacements, with the latter hopeful of making his senior debut on Friday.

Algeria v Burkina Faso | World Cup Qualification CAF 2014

Burkina Faso will be hoping to book their spot to the 2014 Fifa World Cup, when they meet Algeria in a world cup qualifier match scheduled to take place the Stade Mustapha Tchaker.

The Stallions will hold a slight advantage over Algeria following a first leg 3-2 win at Ouagadougou. However, the Fennec Foxes away goals scored keeps them in contention ahead of the crucial match.

FIFA World Cup Africa Play-Off Preview: Cameroon v Tunisia

Cameroon and Tunisia have everything to play for when they meet in the second leg of their FIFA World Cup qualifying play-off on Sunday.
The two sides go into the match level after a hard-fought 0-0 draw in Rades on October 13, with that result setting up a winner-takes-all clash in the return fixture for a spot at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

After speculation surrounding Samuel Eto'o's international future, the forward was named in Cameroon's starting XI by Volker Finke, but the Chelsea man rarely threatened.

The hosts began brightly as Yassine Chikhaoui forced Charles Itandje into a smart stop with a fierce drive from inside the area in the opening minute.

Houcine Ragued and Saber Khalifa both saw headers saved by Itandje shortly after Chikhaoui's early opportunity as Tunisia continued to apply the pressure.

After Eto'o saw a tame attempt easily saved by Moez Ben Cherifia, Wissem Ben Yahia's dipping effort had Itandje scrambling once more to keep the scores level.

Jean Makoun almost put the visitors ahead four minutes from the break, but put his effort the wrong side of Ben Cherifia's left-hand post.

Cameroon, seeking to book a place in their seventh World Cup finals, also struggled to assert themselves after the break, with Ben Youssef heading a Sameh Derbaly cross just wide after 55 minutes.

But Webo then missed the best chance of the game as he failed to convert an Allan Nyom delivery in front of an open goal with 22 minutes remaining.

And though the game became more open in the latter stages, neither side could strike late on, as the tie remains finely poised ahead of the second leg.

Egypt FA: World Cup playoff against Ghana will be played in Cairo

CAIRO (AP) -- Egypt plans to host its first international match in Cairo since 2011, ignoring calls to stage its World Cup playoff against Ghana at a neutral venue because of ongoing political unrest.

Egypt's Football Association spokesman Azmy Megahed said Tuesday the defense ministry had authorized the ''full capacity'' of Cairo's 30,000-seat Air Defense stadium for the second leg match on Nov. 19.

Egypt has mainly played behind closed doors since a stadium riot in Port Said in February 2012.

Next month's game, which follows a 6-1 win for Ghana last week, will decide which team reaches the 2014 World Cup.

Ghana's FA has asked FIFA to move the match because of often deadly protests in Cairo.

FIFA has given Egypt until Oct. 28 to provide ''comprehensive security assurances'' for the game.

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Nigeria vs Ethiopia World Cup LIVE on Saturday: one goal for victory or for defeat…

Catch all the play-by-play commentary of the decisive second leg 2014 World Cup qualifier between Nigeria and Ethiopia on Saturday 16th of November at 3PM GMT!

The Super Eagles have prevailed in the first leg, with two goals scored by Emenike to one by the Antelopes (minute-by-minute report). They are now trying to validate their ticket to Rio in Calabar. Nigeria would be the first African nation officially participating in the final phase of the Rio World Cup, and the fifth time it manages to do so in this competition. The Super Eagles took part to the 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2010 World Cups vont tenter de confirmer ce samedi à Calabar afin d’arracher le premier ticket africain pour Rio. The Walya Antelopes roughed a bit Ahmed Musa’s teammates in the first leg. Nigerians need to keep wary of a potential reaction by the Ethiopians. The Ethiopians are moving to Nigeria two days before the match, on November 14th. Stephen Keshi picked 25 players, including Obi Mikel, Victor Moses and also Kenneth Omeruo, the young defender in Chaelse

Senegal vs. Ivory Coast World Cup Playoffs 2014 Second Leg: Live Stream, Score, Preview, Predictions, Schedule 2 p.m. EST

The Ivory Coast will look to lock up a World Cup berth when it takes on Senegal in the second leg of the playoffs.
The two sides met last month at the Ivory Coast where the home side cruised to a 3-1 victory. Didier Drogba opened the scoring in the third minute from the penalty spot to give Ivory Coast a 1-0 lead. An own goal from Senegal's Ludovic Sane in the 14^th minute proved to be the difference but Salomon Kalou added insurance in the 49^th minute to give the Ivorians a 3-0 lead. That score would have all but eliminated Senegal, but the team managed a 94^th minute goal from Papiss Cisse to keep their hopes alive
"We have to believe. We will go there with the idea of making up the two-goal deficit against the Elephants," said Senegal coach Alain Giresse according to Gulf Today.
said Senegal coach Alain Giresse according to Gulf Today.
The away goal is crucial for Senegal because it means that they only need a 2-0 victory at home to qualify. If the team had lost 3-0, then it would have needed to replicate an identical score to force extra time; a 4-0 win would have been necessary to qualify as even a 4-1 win would give Ivory Coast the edge in away goals.
The Ivory Coast is likely to sit back and defend throughout the game as it can afford to lose 1-0 or earn a draw. If the Ivorians manage to score a goal, the Senegal will be forced to score three or more to qualify.
Prediction: Ivory Coast earns a 1-1 draw.
Start Time: 2 p.m. EST

5 things to know about Portugal vs. Sweden playoff

Cristiano Ronaldo v Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Portugal against Sweden in World Cup play-off is a battle of the titans

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimovic are two of the game's top showmen, and prolific scorers, with the kind of talent that can light up stadiums. And both are in top form — they each bagged a hat trick for their clubs last weekend.

Ronaldo's third hat trick of the Spanish season for Real Madrid made him the top scorer in La Liga with 16 goals in 13 rounds. He has added another eight in four Champions League games.

The 28-year-old winger, who was crowned FIFA world player of the year in 2008, is Portugal's second-highest scorer after Eusebio, with 43 strikes in 107 appearances.

Swedish defender Mikael Lustig has the job of marking Ronaldo — and says he'll need some help, because "support is the secret in a game like this."

Ibrahimovic is Sweden's second all-time scorer, with 46 goals. He has racked up 15 goals in 16 games for Paris Saint-Germain this season, including seven in the Champions League.

The 32-year-old striker was the French league's top scorer last season and can swing a game in his team's favor. A year ago, he scored all of Sweden's goals in a 4-2 win over England, with his late overhead kick counting as one of the sport's greatest goals.

"We can stop him," Portuguese center-back Bruno Alves said, "but it means stopping the whole Sweden team because if he doesn't get the ball he can't do much."