Bensebaini on course for World Cup after 1-0 win in Cameroon

Ramy Bensebaini and the Algeria national team have given their hopes of a World Cup place a boost ahead of the tournament in Qatar. The Desert Foxes won 1-0 in Cameroon on Friday evening.

Algeria, who were disappointingly knocked out in the preliminary round of the Africa Cup of Nations at the beginning of the year, travelled to Cameroon on Friday evening for the first leg of their final qualifying round tie for the World Cup. Head coach Djamel Belmadi's side were able to resist a strong opening phase from the hosts and delivered a stable performance over 90 minutes. Borussia's Ramy Bensebaini was named in the starting XI on the left of Algeria's 3-4-3 and completed the whole game.

Algeria's record goalscorer Islam Slimani netted the only goal of the game when he heated in from a free kick on 40 minutes – just one of two shots on Cameroon's goal in the game. The hosts, however, were also quiet at the other end and despite almost 65 % of possession, could only manage four shots on goal.

The second leg will take place next Tuesday at 21:30 CEST when Algeria will host Cameroon at home in Blida, where they have not lost a competitive game in 18 years.

Borges Sanches with short appearance for Luxembourg

Elsewhere, U19s player Yvandro Borges Sanches made his seventh senior international appearance on Friday night. The 17-year-old attacker came on as a substitute in the 84th minute of Luxembourg's 3-1 friendly defeat to Northern Ireland.

Luxembourg will be in action again next Wednesday (29th March, 20:45 CEST), when they travel to Bosnia & Herzegovina for a friendly.