Failure inside the continental very last was especially sour for prolific Liverpool scorer Salah as he changed into additionally a part of the Egyptian group that misplaced the 2017 Cup of Nations final against Cameroon.
Liverpool teammate Mane played a pivotal position within the first Cup of Nations triumph of Senegal -- atoning for a penalty omit in regular time with the aid of converting the spot-kick that received the shoot-out.
Egypt host the primary leg on Friday and Senegal have home advantage subsequent Tuesday with the mixture winners filling one in all 5 places reserved for Africa at the 32-state finals in Qatar.
Here, AFP Sport looks in advance to the five first legs with Cameroon seeking a report-extending 8th look with the aid of an African nation on the World Cup and Mali hoping to attain the finals for the first time.
Egypt v Senegal
Senegal teach Aliou Cisse says the Cup of Nations triumph is history and all that matters is securing a 2d straight World Cup look.
"Winning the Cup of Nations is not an result in itself because we percentage a not unusual purpose of playing at the World Cup once more," he instructed reporters.
With a 'backbone' comprising Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, PSG midfielder Idrissa Gueye and Mane, Senegal are nicely prepared to succeed.
Egypt welcome lower back superstar goalkeeper Mohamed el Shenawy, who missed the Cup of Nations very last thru harm, but they were the second quality side inside the African name decider and start as underdogs.
The Egyptian media mentioned Egypt captain Mohamed Salah telling his teammates after the penalty shoot-out defeat in Cameroon that "we meet them (Senegal) again subsequent month and inshallah (God willing) we can take revenge".
