African giants Nigeria, Morocco, Togo and Mali all face crunch qualifying games this week as the road to next year's World Cup reaches the midway point.

With the two other continental strugglers, Egypt and Cameroon, not in action, most of the attention will be on Rades, where arguably the biggest game of the round takes place between Tunisia and the Super Eagles.

The hosts currently top Group B with maximum points from their two games, while the Nigerians, who drew their opening fixture with Zambia, are second after crushing Kenya 3-0 in the previous round.

However, with only the top team qualifying for the finals in South Africa, defeat for Nigeria will raise serious doubts over their chances or progressing and coach Shuaibu Amodu knows exactly what is needed to be done.

"We need to win to be in the driver's seat," he said. "We cannot afford to lose this match. A draw won't be too bad, but our target is to win.

"We now know how they play and so know how to approach the game and get the necessary win.

"We missed out on the last World Cup and now we don't want to miss out on the first World Cup to be played in Africa."

The other game in the pool will see the Kenyans face Mozambique in Nairobi.

Group A will also witness a crucial encounter when Morocco host Togo in Rabat.

The Atlas Lions share bottom place with Cameroon after just one point from their opening two matches and a win over second-placed Togo will see them close the gap on leaders Gabon, who have two wins from their first two games.

The Gabonese were meant to host the Indomitable Lions in Libreville, but the game has been postponed and rescheduled for September due to the state funeral of President Omar Bongo.

With African champions Egypt currently representing the continent at the Confederations Cup, there will also be just one game in Group C.

That will take place in Chililabombwe when surprise leaders Algeria, who stunned the Pharaohs with a 3-1 win in the last round, visit second-placed Zambia.

Elsewhere, Ghana will be bidding to make it three wins out of three when they travel to Omdurman to play Sudan.

Black Stars boss Milovan Rajevac said: "We would be regarded as the favourites going into the game. But Sudan have a strong team when playing at home.

"I have confidence in my team. We have been working ourselves to have a complete side and despite the injuries to some players, the other players have stepped up well. I have been pleased with their work ethic."

In Bamako, another one of Africa's big football nations Mali, who are bottom of Group D with a single point, must win to keep alive their slim hopes of qualification.

Finally, there will be plenty of excitement in Ouagadougou, where the top two teams in Group E, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, come together.

Both have maximum points from two games and a win for either will strengthen their stronghold with just three games remaining.

The other group game takes place in Conakry, where point-less Guinea host their fellow strugglers Malawi.