Matchday one of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers delivered goals and away victories as the race for places at the tournament gathered momentum across the continent.
Nigeria, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Algeria, and Cameroon were among the heavyweight nations to make winning starts, while Guinea-Bissau and Zimbabwe produced two of the opening round’s standout results.
Guinea-Bissau defeated co-hosts Tanzania 2-0 away from home, while Zimbabwe overturned a two-goal deficit to beat Sierra Leone 3-2.
Egypt and Senegal endured less convincing starts, with the seven-time African champions held to a goalless draw at home by Angola, while Patrick Vieira’s first competitive match as Senegal coach ended in a 1-1 draw against Mozambique.
Rwanda and Mali also opened with three-goal victories, while Mauritania, Namibia, Sudan, Togo, The Gambia, Malawi, Niger and DR Congo collected maximum points.
Group A: Morocco and Niger take early wins
Morocco and Niger both opened with victories to take early control of Group A.
The Atlas Lions beat Gabon 2-0, with Noussair Mazraoui opening the scoring in the 36th minute before Soufiane Rahimi sealed the win six minutes from time.
Niger survived a late Lesotho fightback to win 2-1. Daniel Sosah opened the scoring after 38 minutes before Oumar Sako doubled the advantage on the stroke of half-time.
Sera Motebang’s 85th-minute penalty gave Lesotho hope, but Niger held on.
Group B: Malawi win, Egypt held
Malawi are the early Group B leaders after beating South Sudan 2-1, while Egypt were held to a goalless draw by Angola in Cairo.
Babatunde Adepoju put Malawi ahead after 20 minutes before Stephen Joseph Dhata equalised three minutes after the restart. Lloyd Njaliwa restored Malawi’s lead in the 64th minute.
Egypt thought they had taken the lead against Angola when Mostafa Zico found the net in the 21st minute, but the effort was ruled out for offside.
Neither side could find a breakthrough as Angola secured a valuable away point.
Group C: Ivory Coast and The Gambia record victories