Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea secured their places in the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals without even stepping onto the field, as results elsewhere in the penultimate round of qualifying confirmed their spots.
In Group G, Ivory Coast, who won the last AFCON they hosted at the beginning of the year, benefited from Sierra Leone’s 1-1 draw with Chad in Abidjan. This result locked in the Ivorians’ position among the top two in their group standings. Ivory Coast currently leads with nine points from four matches, followed by Zambia with seven points. Sierra Leone sits at five points with only one game remaining, while Chad, who were forced to play in Ivory Coast due to stadium issues back home, are now out of contention.
In Wednesday’s match, Chad initially trailed after Abu-Diaby Dumbuya’s impressive 29th-minute goal for Sierra Leone. However, Chad equalized through Mahamat Thiam’s clever Panenka penalty five minutes later, securing a hard-fought draw.
Meanwhile, in Group E, Liberia’s 1-0 win over Togo in Monrovia eliminated both teams and assured Equatorial Guinea’s qualification for the AFCON tournament scheduled in Morocco from Dec. 21, 2025, to Jan. 18, 2026. Despite having four points from five games, Liberia can no longer catch Equatorial Guinea, who hold seven points, thanks to their superior head-to-head record after back-to-back victories over Liberia last month. Mohammed Sangare, a former Newcastle United player now playing in Switzerland, clinched Liberia’s first win in the group with an 83rd-minute penalty, also marking a debut victory for interim coach Thomas Kojo after the departure of Romanian coach Mario Marinica.
Earlier in the day, Cameroon held Namibia to a goalless draw in their Group J encounter in Johannesburg, South Africa. Namibia came close to winning when forward Prins Tjiueza hit the post twice in quick succession, but Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana maintained his fourth clean sheet in five qualifiers. Cameroon had already qualified from this group, while this draw gave Namibia their first point of the campaign.
Cameroon’s coach Marc Brys later expressed frustration over travel logistics, as the team had arrived just a day before kickoff and without Premier League players Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford) and Carlos Baleba (Brighton), who were unavailable due to weekend club commitments.
So far, 10 teams have secured their spots for AFCON: Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Morocco, and Senegal. Thursday’s qualifiers could see other teams like Nigeria, Sudan, and Tunisia joining them.
SOURCE: ESPN
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