2018 World Cup: Chad and Comoros with shock wins
- Published
Chad and Comoros both earned away-goal victories on Tuesday to progress to the next round of 2018 World Cup qualifying.
Comoros are ranked 193rd in the latest Fifa World Rankings and managed a 1-1 draw in Lesotho and that was the same score on aggregate.
Mohamed M'Changama's 71st minute goal in Maseru was enough to earn the tiny island nation a tie against Ghana next month.
Chad lost 2-1 to Sierra Leone in the second leg of their tie but progressed thanks to that away goal.
Leger Djimrangar gave Chad the lead in injury time at the end of the first half of the match, played in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt because Sierra Leone are still not able to host matches due to the Ebola outbreak.
The Leone Stars fought back after the break with Alhaji Kamara scoring in the 70th and 79th minutes but they were unable to find the all-important third goal.
The visitors ended the game with 10 men as Constant Madtoingue was shown a straight red card in the final minutes of the match.
Tuesday's African 2018 World Cup qualifying: | |
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Niger 4-0 Somalia (6-0 agg) | Swaziland v Djibouti (6-0) postponed |
Mauritania 4-0 South Sudan (5-1 agg) | Botswana 3-1 Eritrea (5-1 agg) |
Namibia 2-1 The Gambia (3-2 agg) | Burundi 2-0 Seychelles (3-0 agg) |
Sierra Leone 2-1 Chad (2-2 agg Chad win on away goals) | Guinea-Bissau 1-3 Liberia (2-4 agg) |
Lesotho 1-1 Comoros (1-1 agg Comoros win on away goals) | Madagascar 2-2 CAR (5-2 agg) |
Chad, who are currently ranked 175th, will now play seven-time African champions Egypt in the next round.
William Jebor, who is on loan at Spanish second division side SD Ponferradina, was the hero for Liberia as he scored a hat-trick to help his side beat Guinea-Bissau 3-1.
The made the score 4-2 on aggregate for Lone Star who will now play African champions Ivory Coast.
Jebor, who had also scored Liberia's goal in the first leg, scored twice in the opening 12 minutes and added the third deep into added time at the end of the match.
Ibraime Cassama was on target for Guinea-Bissau moments before the half-time whistle.
Niger easily beat visitors Somalia 4-0 to complete a 6-0 aggregate victory.
Mahamane Cisse and China-based Moussa Maazou both scoring twice to put their side through to face Cameroon.
Mauritania were also 4-0 winners on Tuesday to end South Sudan's first ever World Cup campaign 5-1 on aggregate.
Moulaye Khalil found the net after just four minutes for the hosts in Nouackchott before Boubacar Bagili, Moussa Samba Moussa and Ismail Diakite completed the scoring.
South Sudan played the last 11 minutes with 10 players after the dismissal of Aluck Akeuch Deng.
The reward for Mauritania is a tie against Tunisia in the next round.
Botswana progressed to face Mali with a 5-1 aggregate win over Eritrea following a 2-1 victory in Francistown
Henok Goitom, who is the second highest scorer in the Swedish top flight for AIK, gave Eritrea hope with a goal after just six minutes.
The Zebras then fought back to take the lead before half-time with goals from Mogakolodi Ngele and Joel Mogorosi.
Ngele made sure of the victory with his second goal 10 minutes from time.
Madagascar held Central African Republic to a 2-2 draw to complete a 5-2 aggregate win.
2018 World Cup first round qualifiers | |||
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Niger v Cameroon | Comoros v Ghana | Madagascar v Senegal | Morocco v Eq Guinea |
Mauritania v Tunisia | Djibouti/Swaziland v Nigeria | Kenya v Cape Verde | Mozambique v Gabon |
Namibia v Guinea | Botswana v Mali | Tanzania v Algeria | Benin v Burkina Faso |
Ethiopia v Congo | Burundi v DR Congo | Sudan v Zambia | Togo v Uganda |
Chad v Egypt | Liberia v Ivory Coast | Libya v Rwanda | Angola v South Africa |
Junior Gourrier put visitors CAR ahead after only seven minutes but Madagascar recovered from the shaky start to turn things around before half-time.
Falimery Ramanamahefa and Charles Andriamahitsinoro scored a goal apiece to give Madagascar a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes of the opening period remaining.
They were pegged back by a Demba Malick goal just before the break and neither side were able to break through again after the interval.
Madagascar will face Senegal in the next round.
Burundi are also through after a 2-0 win over Seychelles in Bujumbura, which gave them a 3-0 aggregate victory.
Fiston Abdul Razak scored both goals, the first from the penalty spot on 71 minutes and his second came seven minutes later.
Burundi will face DR Congo in the next round.
Namibia came from behind to beat The Gambia, winning the second leg 2-1 to go through 3-2 overall.
With the tie finely poised after the first leg, visitors The Gambia edged ahead after only 10 minutes on Tuesday when Pa Amat Dibba struck the opener.
But Willy Stephanus scored for Namibia on 45 minutes to make the tie all square and Hendrik Somaeb prevented the tie going to extra time when he struck the winner on 63 minutes.
Swaziland look particularly strong, with a 6-0 advantage over Djibouti but will have to wait to confirm their place in the next round - where Nigeria await - after the second leg was postponed for logistical reasons.
The first round proper of World Cup qualifying for Africa will take place over two legs between 9 and 17 November, the overall winners advancing to the final group phase to decide Africa's five representatives in Russia/
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