AFCON 2027 (Q): Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon in the Tops, Senegal and Tunisia Flops
As the first matchday of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) qualifiers wraps up this Saturday with South Africa-Guinea (1pm GMT), Sport News Africa ranks the top performers such as Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon, as well as the less impressive teams like Senegal since the start of these qualifiers.
Aimé ATTI · Author profile ·
Listen to this story
Synthetic English voice · 3 min 03 s
Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Mali among the Tops
For Hervé Renard’s first time on the bench, the Elephants started off with a tough opponent and it was in Bouaké that they hosted the Black Stars of Ghana. The French technician immediately put his trust in the youngsters, notably Malick Yalcouyé who started for his first cap and proved him right with a superb goal from a Franck Kessié assist, who also scored from the penalty spot (2-0).
The Elephants reassured, just like the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon who got the job done in Garoua against Comoros, with key players such as Bryan Mbeumo and Danny Namaso both scoring in a 3-1 victory over the Coelacanths.
In Bamako, Anthony Da Silva also made a successful debut at the helm of the Eagles of Mali, led by a great Dorgeles Néné, who netted a brace in the 3-1 win against Cape Verde.
CAN 2027 (Q): schedule, matches and fixtures for matchday 1
Tunisia, Egypt and Senegal among the Flops
After a catastrophic World Cup, Tunisia is still ailing. The Eagles of Carthage, who led from the 12th minute thanks to Adem Arous, were caught up with 20 minutes to go in front of their supporters, who will have to endure more disappointment for some time. In any case, Moïn Chaabani has his work cut out for him.
Egypt also missed its campaign start by only drawing an uninspired match against Angola in Cairo (0-0) despite Mohamed Salah, Marmoush and Emam Ashour. In Maputo, Senegal also disappointed in Patrick Vieira’s big debut by conceding a draw (1-1) against Mozambique. And the state of the pitch does not excuse the Lions of Teranga from all blame.
All results
Namibia 1–0 Congo (Group G)
DR Congo 2–0 Equatorial Guinea (Group E)
Mauritania 3–1 Central African Republic (Group F)
Libya 2–2 Botswana (Group H)
Côte d’Ivoire 2–0 Ghana (Group C)
Sierra Leone 2–3 Zimbabwe (Group E)
Cameroon 3–1 Comoros (Group G)
Tunisia 1–1 Uganda (Group H)
Tanzania 0 – 2 Guinea-Bissau (Group L)
Mozambique 1 – 1 Senegal (Group J)
Sudan 1 – 0 Ethiopia (Group J)
Niger 2 – 1 Lesotho (Group A)
Malawi 2 – 1 South Sudan (Group B)
Gambia 2 – 1 Somalia (Group C)
Togo 1 – 0 Burundi (Group I)
Rwanda 3 – 1 Liberia (Group K)
Nigeria 2 – 1 Madagascar (Group L)
Morocco 2–0 Gabon (Group A)
Egypt 0–0 Angola (Group B)
Burkina Faso 1–1 Benin (Group F)
Algeria 3–1 Zambia (Group I)
Mali 3–1 Cape Verde (Group K)