Cape Verde qualified for the World Cup on Monday, beating Eswatini 3-0 in their last group match to top the standings ahead of Cameroon and complete a fairytale campaign.

The wind-swept West African archipelago overcame first-half nerves to win in Praia with second-half goals from Dailon Livramento, Willy Semedo and veteran Stopira and book a first-ever appearance at the finals.

They started two points ahead of Cameroon, whose eight previous World Cup finals appearances are the most by an African country. Cape Verde finished Group D on 23 points, four ahead of Cameroon, who were held at home to a goalless draw by Angola.

Cape Verde rarely played international football some 25 years ago but now head to next year’s finals in North America as one of the nine African representatives.

They join Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Ghana who have qualified already.

Livramento took advantage of Eswatini’s failure to clear to steer home the ball from close range three minutes into the second half while Semedo also had a tap-in for the second six minutes later.

Stopira, 37, had only come on as a late substitute as an acknowledgement of his long service with the team since 2008, and put a cherry on the cake with a stoppage-time goal.

The island’s 600,000 inhabitants had been given the day off to support their team but there was little to cheer in a tentative first half before Livramento scored. After that, the celebrations could not be contained.

Cape Verde are the second smallest country to qualify for the World Cup after Iceland, who competed in Russia in 2018.

Cameroon will likely advance to the playoffs for the four best runners-up across the nine African qualifying groups but were jeered off in Yaounde after failure to beat Angola whose 39-year-old goalkeeper Hugo Marques made several telling stops.

-Reuters

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Ghana qualified for next year’s World Cup as Mohammed Kudus tucked away a close-range effort early in the second half on Sunday to earn a 1-0 win over Comoros and send an overflowing Accra stadium into rapturous celebration.

Kudus tapped in a square pass from Thomas Partey in the 47th minute to secure victory in front of an expectant crowd, although Ghana would have qualified even in defeat as closest rivals Madagascar were beaten 4-1 in Mali at the same time.

The Black Stars are the fifth African nation to confirm their participation at the finals in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. They have been to four previous tournaments, reaching the quarter-finals in 2010.

Ghana had a three-point lead going into the final round of Group I fixtures, with Madagascar’s slim hopes resting on beating Mali away and Ghana losing at home, but that unlikely permutation was never on the cards after Mali scored in the 10th minute.

It was the first of two goals for Lassine Sinayoko, with the others coming from Dorgeles Nene and Gaoussou Diarra.

Ghana finished with 25 points, with Madagascar second on 19 and Mali third on 18.

In the group’s other game on Sunday, the Central African Republic won 3-2 away to condemn Chad to a winless campaign with a single point from their 10 qualifiers.

Substitute Karl Namnganda scored a stoppage-time winner in Ndjamena as the Central African Republic ended their campaign with eight points.

EGYPT END CAMPAIGN UNBEATEN

Already-qualified Egypt, who had booked their berth on Wednesday, rested captain Mohamed Salah but still finished their Group A campaign unbeaten as they overcame Guinea Bissau 1-0 in Cairo. Mohamed Hamdi headed home the winner in the 10th minute.

Egypt won eight of their 10 group games to finish with 26 points with Burkina Faso finishing second in the standings, after concluding their campaign with a 3-1 victory over Ethiopia in Ouagadougou with a hat-trick from Scotland-based attacker Pierre Kabore.

Burkina Faso will be hoping to finish as one of the four best runners-up, who advance to a playoff competition next month.

Also in Group A, the small Red Sea state Djibouti threatened to record their first win of the qualifying campaign when they took the lead against Sierra Leone but ended up losing 2-1.

Earlier on Sunday, surprise package Niger secured second place in Group E by beating Zambia 1-0 away and look set for next month’s playoffs. Daniel Sosah, scoring for a third successive qualifier, bagged the second-half winner.

-Reuters

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Morocco will host Africa’s four-team World Cup playoffs next month which offer the possibility of an additional place at next year’s finals in North America, the Confederation of African Football has confirmed.

All winners of the nine African qualifying groups advance to the finals in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. next June, but there is also a route for a potential extra place for one of the four best runners-up.

They will play a mini tournament in Morocco in November to determine a single team that will go on to compete in an inter-continental playoff in March for a place in the 48-team field at the 2026 World Cup.

The identity of the four teams for next month’s initial African playoff will only be finalised when the group fixtures conclude on Tuesday.

They will play two semi-finals in Morocco on November 13, at venues still to be confirmed, and then a final on November 16.

The teams will be paired according to their position in the next FIFA rankings, to be issued on October 23, with the highest-ranked side taking on the lowest and the second-highest taking on the third-highest.

FOUR COUNTRIES ALREADY QUALIFIED

Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria have all qualified for the World Cup with games to spare and home success for Ghana later on Sunday will see them add their name to the list.

On Monday, Cape Verde can qualify with a win in their fixture at home while the Ivory Coast and Senegal can join them on Tuesday if they do the same.

In Group C, however, there are various permutations with Benin, Nigeria and South Africa all in the running when they play their last games on Tuesday.

Morocco will host the Africa Cup of Nations from December 21-January 18 and co-host the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Spain.

The north African kingdom is also hosting next year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations for the third successive time, plus the U-17 Women’s World Cup, which kicks off next Friday.

The country also regularly stages other continental footballing events and allows its stadiums to be used by countries whose own infrastructure is considered unfit for use in international competition.

-Reuters

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