Morocco win but other African heavyweights humbled in qualifiers
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 Comoros, with a population of around a million, and Rwanda, ranked 140 in world football, who tore up the form book in beating Ghana and South Africa 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 African Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon to send them home early.
French-born attacker Myziane Maolida scored the game’s only goal this time, his second in successive matches.
Earlier South Africa were beaten 2-0 in Rwanda on a water-soaked pitch in Butare as a 12th-minute opener from Innocent Nshuti was followed by a second for Gilbert Mugisha 14 minutes later.
It was Rwanda’s first victory in their last 11 home matches and took them top of Group C, where they lead not only South Africa but also Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
Senegal, who have qualified for the last 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, semi-finalists 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’s 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.
