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Burundi and Ethiopia’s national football teams have qualified for the main qualifying phase of the 2027 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
AFP reported that Burundi’s fate was sealed on Friday when Jordi Liongola, Bienvenue Kanakimana, Abdoul Karim and Nduwumwe Mossi scored as Burundi hammered Chad 4-0 in N’Djamena in the first leg of a preliminary round tie after leading 2-0 at half-time.
Supporters of Chad’s national football team expected the team to perform better at home despite being 32 places below Burundi in the world rankings.
Ethiopia won against São Tomé and Príncipe in the Moroccan Atlantic port city of El Jadida. Abel Yalew scored ywoce and Canaan Markneh netted once for the Ethiopian national football team.
AFP added that Yalew was the only scorer to bag a brace, while there have been 13 goals in the first six legs of the qualifying tournaments since Wednesday.
The Sao Tome national football team, known as the Falcons and True Parrots, is among the African football minnows and is handicapped by not being able to play at home in the island nation off the west coast because they lack an international-standard stadium.
Somalia and Mauritius drew 0-0 in the Mozambican capital, Maputo. The match was reportedly moved from Mogadishu, the Somali capital city, to Maputo due to security concerns.
The 2027 finals in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will involve 24 countries. Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda qualify for the 2027 AFCON automatically as co-hosts, but will play in the group phase to gain competitive match practice.
All three return matches are scheduled for Tuesday. The aggregate winners enter a 48-nation draw, and six group-stage matchdays kick off on September 23.
