The quartet of Senegal, DR Congo, Angola and Egypt have secured their places at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after Matchday 4 four of the qualifiers was brought to a close with 16 matches across the continent on Tuesday.
The four nations have joined hosts Morocco (who also won on Tuesday to secure top spot in their group, but were assured of a place at the tournament regardless), as well as the trio of Algeria, Cameroon and Burkina Faso, who booked their tickets in the past two days.
Yet amidst the news that the next AFCON has eight teams confirmed, one major nation is looking very likely to miss out: Ghana suffered a 0-2 loss away to Sudan (who scored via Ahmed Al Tash and Mohamed Abdelrahman) in Benghazi in an afternoon match, leaving the Black Stars winless in Group F and on course to be absent from the continental finals for the first time since 2004.
Ghana are 10 points off the pace of group leaders Angola (who won 1-0 away to Niger in Casablanca in the early evening to secure qualification, with an early strike from Zini) and five adrift of second-placed Sudan.
The afternoon also saw Zambia and Gabon claim key away victories over Chad (thanks to Kennedy Musonda) and Lesotho (goals from Shavy Babicka and Rody Effaghe) respectively, and Sadio Mane struck deep in injury time to help Senegal win 1-0 away to Malawi in Lilongwe and secure qualification alongside Burkina Faso from Group L.
DR Congo also punched their AFCON ticket in the afternoon with a 2-0 away win over Tanzania in Dar Es Salaam, thanks to a late double from Meschak Elia.
In Group K, Uganda claimed a hard-fought 2-1 away win over South Sudan in the afternoon – secured by an unfortunate own goal from Alfred Leku – to lead the log on 10 points, while South Africa are two points behind after a 1-1 draw against Congo in the early evening.
Bafana Bafana, who beat the Red Devils 5-0 at home last Friday, claimed the lead via Elias Mokwana, but were pegged back by Mons Bassouamina in a hard-fought match in Brazzaville.
Elsewhere in the early-evening games, Egypt secured qualification from Group C with a 1-0 win away to Mauritania (featuring a late strike from Ibrahim Adel), and Botswana moved into second place in the standings with a 1-0 home win over Cape Verde, courtesy of a second-half goal from Thabang Sesinyi.
Guinea-Bissau and Mali drew 0-0 in their Group I clash, keeping Mozambique top of that log, Rwanda revived their hopes in Group D with a come-from-behind 2-1 home win over Benin (with goals from Innocent Nshuti and Djihad Bizimana), and Sierra Leone denied Ivory Coast early qualification with a surprise 1-0 win in Monrovia courtesy of a late strike from Amadou Bakayoko.
In the late games, Morocco racked up a 4-0 win over Central African Republic in Oujda (goals from Eliesse Ben Seghir [two], Youssef En Nesyri and Abde Ezzalzouli) to make it four wins from as many games in Group B.
Fast-starting Guinea claimed second place in Group H behind DRC with a 3-0 win away to Ethiopia (goals from Serhou Guirassy [two] and Abdoulaye Toure inside the opening 23 minutes), and Tunisia remained just one point clear of Comoros at the top of Group A after a 1-1 draw between the teams, with Faiz Selemani’s opener for the Coelacanths cancelled out by Yassibe Meriah’s equaliser.
The scheduled Group D match between Libya and Nigeria in Benghazi was cancelled, after the Super Eagles were left stranded in an airport on Sunday night and boycotted the fixture in protest.
The AFCON qualifiers will conclude in the next international break in November 2024.
AFCON qualifiers results, Tuesday 15 October
Chad 0-1 Zambia
Lesotho 0-2 Gabon
Malawi 0-1 Senegal
South Sudan 1-2 Uganda
Sudan 2-0 Ghana
Tanzania 0-2 DR Congo
Botswana 1-0 Cape Verde
Congo 1-1 South Africa
Guinea-Bissau 0-0 Mali
Mauritania 0-1 Egypt
Niger 0-1 Angola
Rwanda 2-1 Benin
Sierra Leone 1-0 Ivory Coast
Central Africa 0-4 Morocco
Comoros 1-1 Tunisia
Ethiopia 0-3 Guinea
Libya v Nigeria – Cancelled
