CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Angola produced the first shock of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers as they snatched a last-minute goal to win away against Ghana in one of seven matches played around the continent on Thursday.
Former African champions Algeria and Tunisia both won at home, while there was also success for Burundi, the Central African Republic, Congo and Guinea Bissau as teams began the group phase competition to decide the line-up for the finals in Morocco in December next year.
Angolan substitute Milson took advantage of a defensive blunder to score three minutes into stoppage time in the Group F clash in Kumasi.
Angola had held out against a strong Ghana side, with Mohammed Kudus threatening to find the net as he led home hopes but ultimately proved unable.
Burundi’s 3-2 win in Malawi in Group L marked a rare away success for the small east African country, with Mokono Eldinho snatching their 87th minute winner.
Riyad Mahrez returned to the Algeria line-up against Equatorial Guinea in Oran after being dropped for their June World Cup qualifiers and squandered a first half penalty. But his rasping shot some 20 minutes from time allowed Houssem-Eddine Aouar to snap up the rebound, bending down low to power home a header for the opening goal of the Group E encounter. Amine Gouiri added a second near the end.
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Tunisia scrambled a goal eight minutes into stoppage time to overcome Madagascar in their Group A clash as veteran coach Faouzi Benzerti, 74, returned to the helm of the team 30 years after his first appointment.
American-based midfielder Bura got Guinea Bissau’s winner over Eswatini in Group I while there was also a 1-0 home win for Congo over South Sudan in Group K, where the only goal came early from Chandrel Massanga.
The Central African Republic overcame the lack of home advantage to beat Lesotho 3-1 in El Jadida, Morocco. They are among the many African countries who may not host qualifiers because their stadia have been declared unsuitable for use in international matches.
Louis Mafouta, who got a hat-trick in World Cup qualifying three months ago, scored two of the Central African Republic’s goals.
The top two teams in each of the 12 groups qualify for the next finals. There will be two sets of qualifiers per team in this international window followed by two more in October and the last two in November, after which the field for the finals will be decided.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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