If you were looking for down-to-the-wire excitement at the weekend, there was one place to be: Africa. Going into the final group games, Cameroon, Nigeria and Egypt were on the verge of elimination. To put it in context, it would be as if Italy, France and Germany left it to the final 90 minutes to secure their passage to the World Cup finals.

Cameroon and Nigeria made the cut, in improbable circumstances. Egypt face a play-off against Algeria in Sudan on Wednesday and if they make it, their journey will have been even more dramatic. For old-school passion and controversy, nothing beat Africa at the weekend.

To guarantee qualification, Cameroon needed to win away to Morocco, bottom of group A but no pushovers. Goals from Achille Webó and Samuel Eto’o saw them through.

Considering where Cameroon were at the start of qualifying, when they collected a single point in the first two games, it was quite a comeback and credit must also go to their coach, Paul Le Guen.

A darling of the football world when he was winning titles at Lyons, Le Guen’s reputation took a hit after disappointing spells at Rangers and Paris Saint-Germain. He signed a five-month contract in July, one that left no doubt as to his sole objective: getting Cameroon to South Africa. And he duly obliged.

Nigeria is not only the continent’s most populous nation, it has also arguably produced more talent than any other. And yet, over the years, they have paid a hefty price for disorganisation and infighting, developing a reputation as the continent’s great underachievers.

This campaign was no different. They won one of their first four games and left it until the fourth minute of stoppage time to defeat Mozambique last month. Had it not been for Victor Obinna’s “Fergie-time” goal, they would have been knocked out then and there.

Going into Saturday’s game, Nigeria needed to win away to Kenya while praying that Tunisia failed to beat Mozambique. The knives had long been out for Shaibu Amodu, the coach, who had come under fire for curious team selection and tactics.

It was no different in Nairobi, where John Obi Mikel went straight into the starting line-up (despite having not played since September), while the likes of Taye Taiwo, the Marseilles full back, Kanu, the veteran Portsmouth striker, and Obafemi Martins, the Wolfsburg centre forward, took seats on the bench.

Nigeria went a goal down after 16 minutes. With half an hour to go, Amodu sent on Martins and the former Newcastle United player yielded immediate dividends. He scored almost straightaway and then helped to set up Yakubu Ayegbeni’s goal — which was possibly offside — to give Nigeria a 2-1 lead. After Allan Wetende equalised for Kenya in the 78th minute, it was Martins who again popped up seven minutes from time to seal the 3-2 win.

By that point, Dario had scored for Mozambique, condemning Tunisia to a defeat and sending the Super Eagles on their way to South Africa. Yet all this drama paled by comparison with what happened in Cairo.

Egypt were hosting Algeria, their age-old rivals, needing to win by three goals to qualify or by two to force a play-off. Any other result would enable Algeria to advance to their first World Cup finals since 1986.