Morocco win but other heavyweights humbled in World Cup qualifiers

Ghana and SA both suffered embarrassing defeats in World Cup qualification on Tuesday while top contenders Cameroon, Guinea, Senegal and Zambia also found it tough on the road as they all dropped points.

On a busy day of 15 matches across the continent, there were also wins for Burkina Faso, the Cape Verde Islands, Morocco, Namibia, Tunisia and Uganda.

But it was the Comoros, with a population of about a million, and Rwanda, ranked 140th in world football, who tore up the form book in beating Ghana and SA respectively.

Ghana’s loss in Moroni was a harsh reminder of their humiliation almost two years ago when the Indian Ocean islanders beat them at the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon to send then home early. French-born attacker Myziane Maolida scored the game’s only goal this time, his second in successive matches.

Senegal, who have qualified for the past two World Cups, went top of Group B despite being held to a goalless draw in Togo while Guinea lost 1-0 away to Botswana in Group G, where Uganda also picked up points by beating Somalia 1-0 after scoring early through Rogers Mato.

In Group D, Cameroon were held to a 1-1 draw by hosts Libya while Mauritius drew 0-0 at home with Angola, but the Cape Verde Islands won 2-0 away at Eswatini.

Zambia lost 2-1 away against Niger in Group E after conceding two early goals before captain Patson Daka pulled one back in the second half.

Morocco, semifinalists at the World Cup in Qatar a year ago, overcame 10-man Tanzania 2-0 in front of a 60,000-strong crowd in Dar-es-Salaam, scoring with a long-range effort from Hakim Ziyech that the home team’s debutant goalkeeper spilt and an own goal in the second half.

Burkina Faso recorded the largest victory margin of the day with the English-based pair of Bertrand Traore and Dango Ouattara both scoring in the 3-0 away win over Ethiopia.

Tunisia captain Youssef Msakni converted a penalty two minutes from time to secure a 1-0 away win over Malawi in Lilongwe and make it two wins out of two in Group H, where Namibia picked up their first points by beating Sao Tome e Principe 2-0.

The next round of African qualifiers will be played in June, with the continent now turning its focus to January’s Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast.

Reuters