2017 Africa Cup of Nations: Results see Mali qualify for Gabon

Mali finished third at the 2012 and 2013 Africa Cup of Nations

Mali will be at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers finals in Gabon thanks to results in the penultimate round of qualifiers.

The Eagles 3-0 win in South Sudan on Saturday took them to 13 points to guarantee them one of the two best runners-up places.

Should Benin be readmitted to global football and complete their fixtures they can top the group with two wins.

Mali will top the pool with a draw or a win in their last qualifier against Benin.

Benin's future in the tournament is in doubt as they are currently banned from global football by Fifa.

However they will be readmitted if elections for a new Benin Football Federation (FBF) Executive Committee are held "no later than 11 June 2016."

The Confederation of African Football have confirmed that if those elections do happen Benin will be allowed to play their qualifier against Equatorial Guinea on 12 June.

The match had been due to be played on Sunday.

Group D is the only other group where the runners-up can finish with 13 points as Burkina Faso and Uganda both have 10 points and face Botswana and Comoros respectively.

If both Uganda and Burkina Faso win in September the two sides will advance to the Nations Cup finals - the Stallions as group winners and the Cranes as one of the best runners-up.

Tunisia and Liberia both have 10 points at the Group A and face each other in the final tie and so the runners-up can finish with a maximum possible 11 points.

It is similar in Group B with DR Congo playing Central African Republic in the last tie meaning the runner-up cannot finish with more than 12 points.