Ivory Coast win again on busy Tuesday of AFCON qualifiers

by Graeme Jackson

Tuesday Sep 10, 2024. 23:20

A busy Tuesday in 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying was headlined by another win for reigning continental kings Ivory Coast.

The Elephants defeated Chad 2-0 at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde in a night match, thanks to goals from Jean-Philippe Krasso and Oumar Diakite. The result means Emerse Fae’s team top Group G with a full haul of six points and are firmly on course to be present in defence of their title in Morocco next year.

Also in Group G, Zambia took hold of second spot with a thrilling 3-2 win over Sierra Leone in Ndola. Chipolopolo twice claimed the lead only to be pegged back by the West Africans, before Kings Kangwa’s late strike eventually proved the difference between the teams.

In the other night games, Cape Verde took hold of second spot in Group C with a 2-0 win over Mauritania in Praia thanks to a brace of goals from Ryan Mendes; Burkina Faso leapfrogged Senegal to the top of Group L with a 3-1 defeat of Malawi (featuring a brace from Lassina Traore) in Bamako; and Benin closed to within one point of Group D leaders Nigeria on the back of a come-from-behind 2-1 triumph over Libya in Abidjan – courtesy of second-half strikes from Steve Mounie and Junior Olaitan.

The early-evening kick-offs were headlined by comfortable away wins for Algeria and Egypt over Liberia (3-0) and Botswana (4-0) respectively. Amine Gouiri, Adem Zorgane and Baghdad Bounedjah netted for the Fennec Foxes for their second win Group E, while Egypt top Group C with six points after goals from Trezeguet (two), Mohamed Salah and Mostafa Fathi in Francistown.

Gabon claimed a first win in Group B by beating Central Africa Republic 2-0 at home (with goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Shavy Babicka); Tanzania came from a goal down to defeat Group H rivals Guinea 2-1 away thanks to a late winner from Mudathir Yahya; and in Group J, Kenya edged Namibia 2-1 in Soweto (with goals from John Avire and Duke Abuya) to go top of the log after Cameroon were held 0-0 by Zimbabwe in Kampala.

In the afternoon matches, South Africa claimed a dramatic 3-2 away win over South Sudan in Juba – thanks to a second successive injury-time strike from Thalente Mbatha – to go joint top of Group K with Uganda.

Nigeria were held 0-0 away to Group D rivals Rwanda in Kigali; Mali secured a 1-0 away win over Eswatini in Group I thanks to an early strike from Yves Bissouma; and they were joined at the top of the log in their group by Mozambique, who defeated Guinea-Bissau 2-1 in Maputo courtesy of goals from Guima and Elias Macamo.

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

AFCON qualifiers results, Tuesday 10 September

Rwanda 0-0 Nigeria

Mozambique 2-1 Guinea-Bissau

Eswatini 0-1 Mali

South Sudan 2-3 South Africa

Botswana 0-4 Egypt

Gabon 2-0 Central African Republic

Liberia 0-3 Algeria

Guinea 1-2 Tanzania

Namibia 1-2 Kenya

Zimbabwe 0-0 Cameroon

Cape Verde 2-0 Mauritania

Benin 2-1 Libya

Zambia 3-2 Sierra Leone

Chad 0-2 Ivory Coast

Burkina Faso 3-1 Malawi