Nigeria  and Senegal  started with wins on the first day of the final stage of qualifying for the 2021 African Cup of Nations on Wednesday.

Senegal was comfortable in a 2-0 victory over Republic of Congo , and Nigeria less so when it came from behind to edge Benin 2-1.

Senegal opened its qualifying campaign less than four months after losing to Algeria   in the final of this year’s African Cup in Egypt.Sidy Sarr  and Habibou Diallo sealed the win over Congo in Group I with first-half goals.Sadio Mane also played.

Semifinalists at this year’s African Cup, the Nigerians made a fumbling start to the decisive group stage when they went behind in the third minute at home in Uyo to Stephane Sessegnon’s   goal following a defensive error.

However Nigeria Super Eagles rallied strongly to come back as Victor Osimhen  converted a penalty on the brink of halftime and Samuel Kalu   scored the winner in the second half to put three-time African champions Nigeria top of Group L.

The result provided some relief for Nigeria head coach Gernot Rohr, whose relationship with the Nigeria Football Federation has become uneasy since failing to make the African Cup final in Egypt.

Cameroon , the 2021 host, was held 0-0 at home by Cape Verde to draw another blank under new coach Toni Conceicao, the second goalless draw in two games under Conceicao.

Cameroon has already qualified as host but is playing in qualifying for match practice.

The Cameroonians couldn’t find the target again in their Group F opener after a 0-0 draw against Cape Verde  in the Portuguese coach’s first game in charge a month ago. Conceicao replaced former Netherlands  international Clarence Seedorf, who was fired after Cameroon’s title defense at this year’s African Cup in Egypt ended with a round of 16 defeat by Nigeria.

The top two in each group will qualify for the 24-team finals except in Cameroon’s group, where just one other team will make it through. The qualifiers run until November next year.