Ethiopia Sunday wrapped up unsuccessful qualifying campaign for 2022 FIFA World Cup with a 1-1 draw.
Last Thursday, the Walia Ibex ended a run of back to back defeats with an impressive 1-1 draw versus the Black Stars of Ghana at the Orlando Stadium.
With the chance of qualification already over, the team’s focus in Zimbabwe was solely aimed at finishing group stage games strong and ending their underwhelming record on the road. The Wallas were reportedly unable to record an away win since 2019.
Kudakwashe Mahachi’s goal at 38′ helped Zimbabwe to lead for most of the match held at its National Sports Stadium.
However, Salahdin Ahmed’s late equalizer salvaged a draw for Walia Ibex.
With the consecutive away 1-1 draws, Ethiopia ended the 2022 World Cup qualification campaign in Group G third place with 5 points while Zimbabwe finished bottom with only 2 points.
During the group stage, the national team suffered a narrow loss to Ghana (0-1) in the first round, then beat Zimbabwe (1-0), and were defeated by South Africa twice (1-3 and 0-1), which effectively killed Ethiopia’s qualification hope.
In the fifth round, the team faced Ghana. Having shown a great game, they did South Africa a favor by taking points away from their main rival (1-1).
Ghana will host South Africa in the highly anticipated final game of the group later today and need a victory to be able to secure a sole ticket to the play-offs round. South Africa are three points clear at the top and just need a point.
MG/abj/APA