AFCON wrap: Super Eagles a perfect 10, Morocco close in on qualification

by Graeme Jackson

Monday Jun 13, 2022. 23:35

The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations wrapped up its Matchday 2 slate with three games across the continent on Monday 13 June, headlined by a massive 10-win for Nigeria over Sao Tome & Principe, and Morocco taking a major step toward securing a finals ticket with a win over Group K rivals Liberia.

The Super Eagles had six different scorers in the afternoon match in Agadir, Morocco – including a four-goal haul from star man Victor Osimhen – as they emphatically claimed top spot on the Group A standings, shrugging off a somewhat underwhelming showing in last week’s 2-1 win over Sierra Leone. Terem Moffi (two), Moses Simon, Peter Etebo, Ademola Lookman and Emmanuel Dennis also found the back of the net.

Guinea-Bissau are second on the Group A log on four points after they could only draw 2-2 away to Sierra Leone in Conakry in an early-evening clash. The Djurtus looked on course for victory after taking a two-goal lead thanks to a brace from Jorginho early in the second half, but the Leone Stars fought back to salvage a draw – and put their first point on the board – via late strikes from Augustus Kargbo and Musa Kamara.

The late game from Group K saw Morocco defeat ‘hosts’ Liberia 2-0 at Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca, thanks to goals early in the second half from Faycal Fajr and Youssef En-Nesyri.

The result has the Atlas Lions top of the standings with six points, and given that the group has just three teams (after Zimbabwe’s disqualification), the North Africans have already all but ensured that they will finish in the top two and secure passage to the finals in Ivory Coast in a year’s time.

The AFCON qualifiers will resume in September 2022 with Matchday 3 and 4 fixtures.

AFCON qualifiers results, Monday 13 June

Group A: Sao Tome & Principe 0-10 Nigeria

Group A: Sierra Leone 2-2 Guinea-Bissau

Group K: Liberia 0-2 Morocco