On Thursday a few African teams, including Cote D’Ivoire, were involved in friendly international matches, making use of the FIFA match days to prepare for Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and World Cup qualifying later this year.

Amongst these teams was 2015 Nations Cup champions Cote D’Ivoire, who took on Angola in a match that was used as an opportunity to celebrate the side’s triumph in Equatorial Guinea last month.

Coach Herve Renard’s Ivorians were able to overcome their Angolan counterparts 2-0 in Abidjan, with defender Ousmane Viera Diarrassouba getting the Elephants off the mark in the first half. Former Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou came off the bench to score a penalty in the dying minutes of the match to complete the scoreline in favour of the African champs.

New Egypt coach Hector Cuper had the desired influence on his new charges as the Pharaohs defeated Equatorial Guinea 2-0 in Cairo thanks to goals from Basem Morsi and Mahmoud Trezeguet, but the game was not as straight forward as the final score suggests, as both goals were scored in the final few minutes of the encounter.

Ali Assadalla’s first half strike proved to be the winner for Qatar against Africa’s top ranked side, Algeria. The 1-0 defeat saw the Algerians disappoint fans, as the talented North Africans did not test the Gulf side in the manner in which they would typically play. The 2022 World Cup hosts pleased the home crowd in Doha, but the Fennecs would not have expected to lose against Qatar.