Mauritania kick off their World Cup qualification campaign on Friday when they welcome the Chipolopolo of Zambia to the Stade Olympique.
Zambia head into the game following a disappointing group-stage exit from the COSAFA Cup and will be looking to bounce back from that poor performance.
Match preview
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Mauritania booked their place in the Arab Cup courtesy of a 2-0 victory over 10-man Yemen at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in June's playoff game.
In a game where Mudir Abduradu received his marching orders, Ismael Diakite and Hemeya Tanjy scored in either half to send Mauritania through to the group stages of the Arab world's national team tournament.
This followed a 1-0 friendly win over Liberia, where 24-year-old midfielder Almike Moussa N'Diaye scored in the 71st minute to hand the Lone Stars their third defeat in five games.
Corentin Martins, who has already guided Mauritania to next year's Africa Cup of Nations, will hope his side can keep the juggernaut rolling and start their qualification campaign on a winning note by picking up their third victory on the bounce.
Meanwhile, despite picking up four points from the final two games, a poor start to the campaign saw Zambia suffer a group-stage exit from the COSAFA Cup as they finished third in Group A.
This was in keeping with their poor performance in the 2021 AFCON qualifiers, where they finished third in Group H with seven points from six games and missed out on a place in the continental event.
Friday's game will be the first ever meeting between the sides and Beston Chambeshi will hope his side can make up for their recent struggles by kicking off their hunt for a place in the World Cup on the front foot.
Zambia follow this game with a highly-anticipated clash against Tunisia on home turf four days later, while Mauritania travel to the Nuevo Estadio de Malabo to face Equatorial Guinea.
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Team News
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Mauritania have named a 25-man squad for their qualifying games including former Fulham forward Aboubakar Kamara, who now turns out for Greek outfit Aris Thessaloniki.
Nouadhibou striker Moulay Ahmed Bessam, who holds the nation's all-time scoring record with 12 goals in 58 matches, is expected to spearhead the attack for the hosts.
Chambeshi, who was recently appointed head coach by the Football Association of Zambia, has named a 22-man squad for the qualifiers, including the Lusaka Athletico trio of Joseph Banda, Julius Kumwenda and Francis Mutalange.
Despite the travel restrictions, newly-signed Leicester City forward Patson Daka and Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Enock Mwepu are expected to slot right into the XI, while Rangers forward Fashion Sakala is a surprise omission from the squad.
Mauritania possible starting lineup:
N Diaw; Abeid, Diarra, N'diaye, M Diaw; Hacen, Mahmoud, Camara, Mohamed; Kamara, Bessam
Zambia possible starting lineup:
Chibwe; Chepeshi, Mwape, Chiluya; Musonda, Mwepu, Kabwe, Sautu; Mwila, Daka, Chilufya
We say: Mauritania 0-1 Zambia
Both sides have called up strong squads for their upcoming games and we expect a cagey affair in Nouakchott on Friday.
While Zambia will be looking to quickly bounce back from their COSAFA Cup disappointment, they face a Mauritania side who head into the game in solid form. However, we predict the Chipolopolo will steal a narrow win in this one.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Mauritania win with a probability of 38.39%. A win for Zambia had a probability of 31.9% and a draw had a probability of 29.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Mauritania win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.48%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (7.58%) and 2-1 (7.55%). The likeliest Zambia win was 0-1 (11.96%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.43%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 6.7% likelihood.
