Many of the continent’s national soccer teams have no room for error as they enter this weekend’s round of combined qualifiers for the 2010 Cup of Nations and World Cup tournaments.

After the matches of the two last weekends, a win is a must for some countries if they are not to miss the second phase of the qualifiers. With the prize a place in the first World Cup finals to be held in Africa, all the competing teams will give this weekend’s matches their best shot.

Rwanda will compete against Morocco to lead their group, since both countries won their first two matches. South Africa faces Sierra Leone, who will fortunately get back their best player, Mohamed Kallon, who was suspended.

Senegal heads to Samuel Doe Stadium in Monrovia, Liberia, a stadium that had its seating capacity reduced by Fifa after a stampede claimed the lives of supporters during a recent match against Gambia.

And in Nouakchott, the question is whether Mauritania – playing a home match against Ethiopia – will recover after the sacking of coach Alain Moizan?

Nigeria, without John Obi Mikel, will try to reach a total of nine points overall when they play in Malabo, where Equatorial Guinea, playing at home, is determined to stand up to the Super Eagles.

Guinea’s Frederic Kanouté and teammates will clash against Sudan in Omdurman, while their Ivorian neighbors will fight hard in the absence of their best players to bring a positive result from Gaborone, where they play Botswana.