In-form striker Denis Bouanga hit a first-half hat-trick as Gabon swept past Seychelles 4-0 on Wednesday in Saint Pierre to go top of Group F of their 2026 World Cup qualifier.

The match, played at the neutral venue of the Cote d Or Sports Complex in the Mauritian city of Saint Pierre, saw the Panthers dominating the exchance from the start of the game.

The Los Angeles FC forward struck in the 4th, 34th and 38th minutes before substitute Yannis M’Bemba added a late fourth to round off an emphatic win.

The result moves the Panthers to 18 points from seven games, two clear of Côte d’Ivoire—who have a game in hand—before the pair meet in a potential group decider later in the window.

The Ivorians will play Burundi on Friday and will have the chance to return to the top of the group if they win the game.

Bouanga’s treble also lifts him to the top of the qualifiers’ scoring chart on eight goals, ahead of Egypt’s Mohamed Salah.

Gabon started with intent and were ahead inside four minutes, Bouanga finishing smartly after the Seychelles defence was opened up down the left.

The captain doubled the advantage just after the half-hour, guiding home from close range, and completed his hat-trick four minutes later with another precise finish to effectively settle the contest before the interval.

Seychelles tried to wrestle back some control after the break but struggled to create clear chances.

A booking for Onfia on 61 minutes summed up a frustrating afternoon for the islanders, whose spirited work without the ball was repeatedly undone by Gabon’s movement in wide areas and the visitors’ superiority in transition.

With the game drifting towards a comfortable conclusion, Gabon’s bench provided the final flourish.

Introduced on 68 minutes, M’Bemba latched onto a late opening to make it 4–0 in the 89th minute, ensuring the scoreline reflected the visitors’ dominance.

Gabon now host Côte d’Ivoire next, knowing victory would keep qualification in their own hands.

Seychelles remain bottom without a point but will look to take positives from a more compact second-half display as they search for a first result of the campaign.

According to Mark Gleeson, a top-notch South African sports journalist,  FIFA’s reticence to dock World Cup points from South Africa for using a defaulter in a March fixture is casting a cloud and creating confusion ahead of this week’s potentially decisive round of African qualifiers.

He wrote for the global news agency, Reuters. The write-up runs thus:

FIFA’s reticence to dock World Cup points from South Africa for using a defaulter in a March fixture is casting a cloud and creating confusion ahead of this week’s potentially decisive round of African qualifiers.

South Africa were severely embarrassed when they belatedly discovered the mistake, but insists that because their opponents did not protest, they will not lose the three points.

“We did something bad, we did something we shouldn’t do, but there was no complaint,” said South Africa coach Hugo Broos this week when again questioned on the matter.

But FIFA’s Disciplinary Code makes provisions for proceedings to be instigated by the administration of world football’s governing body, not only via protest, and they have previously sanctioned countries which have committed the same offence.

The rules state: “If a person receives a caution in two separate matches of the same FIFA competition, they are automatically suspended from the next match in that competition.”

The disciplinary code also adds: “If a team fields a player who is not eligible to participate (due to suspension, registration issues, nationality, etc.), the match is automatically forfeited. The default result is a 3–0 loss, unless the actual result was even more disadvantageous to the offending team.”

“It is not normal that we don’t know the situation about the points on the log table before our games this week,” said Gernot Rohr, coach of Benin, which is second behind South Africa in the standings.

“It is very, very strange. Normally, South Africa should lose three points, and they should go to Lesotho. But nobody knows why they (FIFA) did not take this decision,” he told Reuters.

UNANSWERED

Repeated queries to world football’s governing body in Zurich have gone unanswered in the five months since the incident.

Rohr would know better than most the ramifications of fielding an ineligible player. In the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, when he was Nigeria’s coach, they forfeited the point from a 1-1 draw in Algeria for fielding Shehu Abdullahi, who was suspended.

“We didn’t know he was suspended, and we lost the points in the disciplinary committee,” added Rohr.

With their win still intact, South Africa lead the standings with 13 points, five ahead of Rwanda and Benin and six ahead of Nigeria, whom they host in a crunch game in Bloemfontein next Tuesday. Lesotho have six points and Zimbabwe sit last on four.

Losing three points would see South Africa’s advantage reduced to only two points with four qualifiers to play and put Lesotho into second place, setting up a nervy round of matches when the six protagonists play on Friday and again next Tuesday.

The teams tussling for qualification want clarity. “The world still awaits FIFA’s decision,” said the Nigerian Football Federation on their website this week, and Rohr added, “FIFA should now very quickly give the decision.”

The group winner qualifies automatically for next year’s finals in North America.

-Reuters

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Nigeria’s Super Eagles face a must-win clash on Saturday as Rwanda’s Amavubi arrive in Uyo with a 24-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

 The visitors, led by coach Adel Amrouche, dropped Claude Smith Kayibanda, Djabilu Ishimwe and David Niyo, with Kayibanda ruled out by injury.

The Rwandans are expected to touch down in Lagos on Tuesday before continuing to Uyo to set up camp ahead of Matchday 7 at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium. After facing Nigeria, they will move on to South Africa for a fixture against Zimbabwe on September 9.

The stakes are high for Eric Chelle’s Eagles, who sit fourth in Group C with seven points — one behind Rwanda and Benin, and six adrift of leaders South Africa.

With FIFA still to rule on a protest over Bafana Bafana’s alleged use of an ineligible player, Saturday’s showdown could be decisive in Nigeria’s qualification push.

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