This past weekend saw another round of AFCON qualifying taking place across the continent to decide the teams that will emerge on Gabon for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), and there were many surprise results amongst the list of fixtures. Here we look back at a few of the matches that took place in Africa.
The Black Stars of Ghana returned home from Kigali with a useful three points on Saturday, following a victory over the East Africans by a single goal thanks to a stunning free kick from Mubarak Wakaso.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria travelled to Dar es Salaam to face a determined Taifa Stars side, and the Tanzanians’ determination was visible throughout the encounter, as they managed to hold the visitors to a goalless draw in Sunday Oliseh’s first official game in charge.
The Atlas Lions secured three points with a comfortable away win over Sao Tome. Three goals in ten first half minutes thanks to Malaga’s Nordin Amrabat, Granada’s Youssef El Arabi and Nabil Dirar of Monaco, allowing the North Africans the luxury of being in control throughout the second stanza.
Liberia surprised the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia in Monrovia on Saturday thanks to a Francis Forkey Doe goal in the final 15 minutes of the encounter, allowing the Liberians to take maximum points from the fixture, which puts the two opponents side by side in Group A on three points.
Mauritania put South Africa’s Bafana in a terrible position as they crushed the visiting side 3-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Nouakchott on Saturday. The hosts scored early through Abeide, while Bafana’s Thamsanqa Gabuza equalised to give the visiting team some semblance of hope. The three points were ensured for the home side thanks to two second half strikes late in the game from Beyguili and Bessam, as Bafana returned home with a single point from two matches, making the round ahead a difficult one for SA.
Zambia made a trip to Kenya on Sunday and returned home content with a three-point reward for their victorious efforts. Kenya took the lead through Michael Olunga in the 13th minute, but the Zambians would have the last laugh as Winstone Kalengo equalised 15 minutes later, before an excellent finish from Colins Mbesuma guaranteed the victory for Zambia.
The Fennec Foxes of Algeria travelled south to face Lesotho, but their long trip was worth it as they returned home with all three points and a 3-1 victory. Faouzi Ghoulam opened the scoring for Algeria on 31 minutes, before a Ralekoti Mokhahlane goal restored parity in the encounter for the hosts. The top ranked side in Africa would wait until the final minutes of the clash to secure the win, as El-Arbi Hilal Soudani scored twice in the last five minutes of the match.
The Pharaohs of Egypt made the trip to Chad and returned home with all of the spoils as they thrashed the home side 5-1. Bassem Morsi scored a hat-trick for the Egyptians, while goals from Mohamed Salah and Mahmoud Abdel-Moneim completed the defeat, as a consolation goal from Nadjim Haroun gave the home fans something to cheer about.
For the second successive qualifying game the current African champions failed to earn anything more than a draw, leaving them in a dangerous position early on, with a great deal of work to do in the coming matches. Sierra Leone did very well to keep the Elephants from scoring, earning themselves a point from a goalless draw on Sunday.
Vincent Aboubakar was on hand for the Indomitable Lions to secure a victory in Bakau on Sunday, with a slender 1-0 win enough to earn them the points they were after.
Comoros 0-1 Uganda
Seychelles 1-1 Ethiopia
Namibia 0-2 Senegal
Burundi 2-0 Niger
Rwanda 0-1 Ghana
Tanzania 0-0 Nigeria
South Sudan 1-0 Equatorial Guinea
Botswana 1-0 Burkina Faso
Sao Tome 0-3 Morocco
Guniea-Bissau 2-4 Congo
Liberia 1-0 Tunisia
Mauritania 3-1 South Africa
Gabon 4-0 Sudan
Mauritius 1-0 Mozambique
Madagascar 0-0 Angola
Kenya 1-2 Zambia
Lesotho 1-3 Algeria
Swaziland 2-2 Malawi
Zimbabwe 1-1 Guinea
CAR 2-0 DR Congo
Chad 1-5 Egypt
Benin 1-1 Mali
Sierra Leone 0-0 Ivory Coast
Gambia 0-1 Cameroon
Libya 1-2 Cape Verde