Ivory Coast run riot, Ghana leave it as Zambia and Comoros win
2023 Africa Cup of Nations hosts, Ivory Coast, ran riot against Seychelles while Ghana needed a late goal to get past Madagascar on Day 3 of the CAF 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
There were seven different scorers in the slaughter of Seychelles with three different penalty takers all finding the mark. Karim Konate and Hamid Troare helped themselves to a brace each in the massacre. The Group F match was effectively ended as a contest when Konate scored his first and Ivory Coast’s fourth in the 40th minute.
Inaki Williams put the ball in the net deep into injury time to guide Ghana past a stubborn Madagascar in Group I. Some Ghanaian supporters had already left the stadium in frustration when Williams secured the points for the Black Stars.
Patson Daka also scored in injury time but his second of the match was an insurance goal as Zambia had to come from behind to overcome Congo Brazaville 4-2. Daka’s opener in the 5th minute was cancelled out by two goals in the space of two minutes from Silvere Ganvoula and Vieljuex Mboungou. Chipolopolo rallied in the second halfto seal three points in Group E.
Malawi secured an impressive away win in Group H thanks to a late Chifundo Mphasi goal against Liberia. With only team automatically qualifying from each group, points like these will come handy in the race for a playoff place.
In one of many games being played in Morocco due to unavailability of stadiums in a number of countries, Guinea beat Uganda 2-1. Seydouba Cisse struck the winner in injury time at empty Stade Municipal de Berkane. In two other games kicking off at the same time, Libya beat Eswatini 1-0 while Comoros surprisingly thrashed Central African Republic 4-2.
Chad looked set for an unlikely point against Mali in Group I when Marius equalised to make it 1-1 after an early goal from Kamory Doumbia. All hope disappeared when Yousoufou Niakate and Ibrahima Sissoko scored within four minutes of each other. Cameroon and Tunisia also had wins against Mauritius and Sao Tome & Principe respectively while Burkina Faso and Guinea-Bissau played out a 1-1 draw.
The final games of Matchday 1 are set for Saturday as the journey to the Americas in 2026 continues.
