Comoros, who shocked Tunisia last week, threatened to repeat the feat when they took the lead in Abidjan, but the former champions recovered to force a 1-1 Group A draw. A total of eight nations have now secured places at the AFCON with Burkina Faso qualifying on Sunday and Algeria and Cameroon on Monday. Hosts Morocco are automatic participants.

A first-minute goal secured the Angolans victory and a place at the 24-nation AFCON in Morocco from December 21 2025, but the Congolese, Egyptians and Senegalese relied on late goals to win.

Angola edged Niger 1-0 in Casablanca, DR Congo overcame Tanzania 2-0 in Dar es Salaam, Mohamed Salah-less Egypt beat Mauritania 1-0 in Nouakchott and Senegal pipped Malawi 1-0 in Lilongwe.

Sudan and Sierra Leone are among 34 countries eyeing one of the other 16 qualifying places, but they had cause for celebrations ahead of the final two matchdays during November.

Captain Mohamed Abdelrahman scored the second goal as Sudan beat four-time champions Ghana 2-0 in Benghazi and a late Amadou Bakayoko goal earned Sierra Leone a 1-0 victory over Ivory Coast.

Ghana are in deep trouble as they trail second-placed Sudan by five points in Group F, and still have to visit in-form Angola, who were 2024 AFCON quarter-finalists. Ivory Coast remain top of Group G despite losing to a nation 92 places lower in the world rankings, and second-placed Zambia hold a three-point advantage over Sierra Leone.

Winners and runners-up qualify from 11 of the 12 groups. Morocco are playing in Group B to gain competitive match practice, leaving the other three teams fighting for one place.

Lesser known

A disastrous campaign for Ghana took another turn for the worst soon after half-time as Sudan scored twice within three minutes through Ahmed Mohamed and Abdelrahman.

There was no comeback from the Black Stars, captained by West Ham United midfielder Mohammed Kudus, and are now likely to miss the finals for the first time since 2004. Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo was another Premier League star in the Ghana line-up and the frontline was led by Inaki Williams from Athletic Bilbao.

But a Sudanese side composed of lesser-known players followed up a 0-0 draw in Ghana with a deserved victory as they represent a country engulfed in a civil war since April last year.

Sudan need one point from November fixtures against Niger (away) and Angola (home) to be certain of qualifying, and eliminate Ghana. Senegal took 96 minutes to break down Malawi in Group L with two-time African Footballer of the Year Sadio Mane claiming his third goal of the campaign.

Egypt coach Hossam Hassan released Liverpool star Salah before the return match with Mauritania, fearing the artificial pitch in Nouakchott could heighten the risk of injury.

Without their talisman, Egypt had to wait 85 minutes before substitute Ibrahim Adel netted to maintain the perfect Group C record of the record seven-time AFCON champions.

Meschak Elia came off the bench to turn a Group H showdown in Tanzania in favour of DR Congo by scoring on 87 minutes and again in added time. Angola wasted no time establishing a Group F advantage over Niger with Ambrosini 'Zini' Salvador scoring the only goal within 60 seconds.

After thrashing Congo Brazzaville by five goals at home, South Africa had to settle for a 1-1 Group K draw when the teams met in central Africa. Uganda won 2-1 away to South Sudan in the same section and they and South Africa remain on course to qualify.

E. Mokwana

Achievements