Angola produced the first shock of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers as they grabbed a last minute goal to beat Ghana away.
Seven matches were played across the continent on Thursday, with former African champions Algeria and Tunisia both winning at home, while there was also success for Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo and Guinea-Bissau.
The teams compete in the group stage of the competition to decide the line-up for the finals in Morocco in December next year.
Angolan substitute Milson capitalized on a defensive blunder to score three minutes into stoppage time in the Group F clash in Kumasi.
Angola held their own against a strong Ghana side, with Mohamed Qudous threatening to find the back of the net as he drove the home side’s hopes, but ultimately proved unable.
Burundi’s 3-2 win at Malawi in Group L marked a rare away success for the small East African nation, with Mokono Eldinho grabbing an 87th-minute winner.
Riyad Mahrez returned to Algeria’s starting line-up against Equatorial Guinea in Oran after being suspended for June’s World Cup qualifiers and missing a first-half penalty.
But his volley 20 minutes later allowed Houssem-Eddine Aouar to pick up the rebound, stooping low to head in the first goal of the Group E encounter. Amine Gouiri added a second near the end.
Tunisia scored a goal eight minutes before stoppage time to edge past Madagascar in their Group A clash as veteran coach Fouzi Benzerti, 74, returned to the helm 30 years after his first appointment.
American midfielder Bura scored Guinea Bissau’s win 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 on from Chandrel Massanga.
The Central African Republic overcame a lack of home advantage to beat Lesotho 3-1 in El Jadida, Morocco. They are among several African countries that may not host qualifiers because their stadiums have been declared unfit for use in international matches.
Louis Maputa, who scored 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 subsequent finals.
There will be two sets of qualifiers per team in this international window, followed by two more in October and the final two in November, after which the field for the finals will be decided.
