Holders Senegal will be defending their Africa Cup of Nations title in Cote d’Ivoire early next year after sealing qualification on Tuesday.
South Africa will also be returning to the continental showpiece after missing out on the last edition in Cameroon last year.
The Teranga Lions secured their spot in the tournament after a 1-0 away win over Mozambique today.
Boulaye Dia struck in the 18th minute to hand Aliou Cisse’s side their second win in four days over Mozambique, following a 5-1 victory in Senegal on Friday.
Today’s win took Senegal’s points tally in qualifying Group L to 12 from four games and an eight-point lead over second-placed Mozambique with two rounds of games left.
South Africa also bagged an away win against Liberia to seal their AFCON spot.
Bafana Bafana beat the Lone Star 2-1 to earn four points from three matches in their three-team group, joining leaders Morocco in securing their tickers.
Zakhele Lepasa gave South Africa the lead in the 19th minute but William Jebor equalised for the hosts 10 minutes before half-time.
Mabhuti Mayambela struck the winner nine minutes into the second half to give South Africa a three-point advantage and superior head-to-head record over Liberia with both sides having just one match left in qualifying Group K.
In the games, Namibia are on the verge of sealing a place at the 2023 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire after beating giants Cameroon 2-1 on Tuesday.
The Brave Warriors stopped the five-time champions in their Group C qualifier at the Dobsonville Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The victory sent Namibia to the top of the group with five points, one more than second-placed Indomitable Lions in the three-team group.
Burundi , the other team in the group, have played two matches and have one point, giving Namibia a good chance of qualifying for Africa’s flagship football competition.
In-form Mamelodi Sundowns forward Peter Shalulile, who also netted in the 1-1 draw against the same opponent last week, opened the scoring in the 55th minute before Absalom Limbondi extended the lead in the 79th minute.
Turkey-based Vincent Aboubakar was on target for the Indomitable Lions deep into stoppage time but was not enough for Cameroon sparking Namibia coach Collin Benjamin into some excitement.
“This is a very sweet win against a strong Cameroon team. I congratulate my players for working hard to get maximum points today,” said the happy Namibia coach Benjamin.
The Cameroon coach Rigobert Song was disappointed, insisting his players did not take advantage of their opportunities.
“We failed to take our chances and Namibia punished us,” the former international defender said after the game.
Malawi 0 Egypt 4
The Pharaohs of Egypt were also in good scoring form when they registered a big 4-0 win away to Malawi in a match played at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
The win takes Egypt top of the group with nine points and a better goal difference than Guinea who also have the same number of points. Malawi and Ethiopia each remain at three points each.
In the other two earlier matches played Equatorial Guinea and Cape Verde picked away wins to improve their chances of qualification.
Equatorial Guinea humbled Botswana 3-2 in a Group J match played at the Francistown Stadium in Francistown. Emilio Nsue Lopez gave the visitors the lead after 13 minutes, but Elias Mbatshi made it 1-1 after 28 minutes.
Cape Verde also picked a 1-0 away win against Eswatini with Ryan Mendes scoring the lone goal in the Group B match played at the Mbombela Stadium, Mbombela in South Africa.
