Ghana and Nigeria suffer shock defeats in Afcon qualifying

Ghana and Nigeria endured damaging defeats in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, while Ivory Coast, Egypt, Morocco and Senegal secured victories on a busy day featuring 17 matches.

Ghana surrendered a 2-0 lead before losing 4-2 at home to Gambia in Accra. Ernest Nuamah and Felix Afena-Gyan scored within the opening 33 minutes, but Muhammed Badamosi’s penalty, Omar Colley’s goal and two from substitute Ebrima Colley completed a remarkable comeback.

Gambia, whose population is below three million compared with Ghana’s almost 35 million, secured their first win in Group C. Angry home supporters threw bottles on to the pitch during the closing stages, increasing the pressure on veteran coach Carlos Queiroz after Ghana’s defeat by Ivory Coast last week.

Ghana were among Africa’s 10 representatives at the World Cup, where they reached the last 32. Nigeria, semi-finalists at the last Afcon finals in January, were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Guinea Bissau despite starting with seven Premier League players.

Franculino Dju opened the scoring before captain Mama Balde doubled the lead in the 66th minute. Alvaro Djalo added a third in stoppage time, with the final margin potentially even greater.

Coventry City’s Yann Gboho marked his Ivory Coast debut by coming off the bench to break Somalia’s resistance in the final minute. Bazoumana Toure scored five minutes into added time as Ivory Coast won 2-0.

Algeria recovered from falling 2-0 behind to Burundi inside 12 minutes to draw their Group I match in Bujumbura. Mohamed Belloumi and Adil Boulbina rescued a point, although the performance under new coach Brahim Hemdani was far from convincing.

Cape Verde, praised for their determined performances at this year’s World Cup, have lost both Group K matches after Rwanda came from behind to win 2-1 in Praia. Teenager Elie Iradukunda scored the decisive goal, while Mali won 1-0 away to Liberia.

Egypt, who rested Mohamed Salah because of possible injury concerns over Juba’s artificial surface, defeated South Sudan 5-0. Omar Marmoush scored twice, with Mostafa Zico, Ibrahim Adel and teenager Hamza Abdelkarim also on target in Group B.

Brahim Diaz gave Morocco the lead just before half-time against Lesotho in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The match was moved there because Lesotho does not have an internationally approved stadium. Azzedine Ounahi added a second with eight minutes remaining to put Morocco top of Group A.

Senegal gave new coach Patrick Vieira his first victory by beating Ethiopia 1-0. Ibrahim Mbaye scored after 11 minutes following a pass from Aston Villa team-mate Nicolas Jackson.

Mozambique moved top of Group J on goal difference by beating Sudan 4-1 in Maputo, with a double from Chamito, who plays in Portugal’s third tier. Cameroon drew 1-1 with Congo in Brazzaville, while Comoros beat Namibia 1-0 in Moroni through Benjaloud Youssef’s early second-half goal.

The other home winners were Gabon, Benin, Mali, Uganda and Zambia. Zambia beat Togo 2-0 in Ndola in a match delayed for 20 minutes by a first-half power failure. Rodolfo Aloko scored both goals in Benin’s 2-1 victory over Mauritania, while debutant Arnold Vula scored Uganda’s goal in a 1-0 win against Libya.