By Duncan Mlanjira
The first wave of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers wrapped up on Tuesday with the headline result being Ethiopia’s surprise victory over West African heavyweights Côte d’Ivoire.
The African giants scored first but Ethiopia struck back through Sufarel Dagnachew and Shimelis Bekele for their first three points.
Zimbabwe’s Khama Billiat scored two
Malawi gave up their lead of Group B after losing to Uganda on Sunday. In their first match played Wednesday last week at Kamuzu Stadium against South Sudan, they managed a 1-0 win while Uganda drew 0-0 with Burkina Faso.
Following the loss, the Flames are third since Burkina Faso also beat South Sudan to share four points.
Madagascar opened up a three-point lead at the top of Group K with an emphatic 6-2 away win over Niger.
Ghana’s Jordan Ayew
Zambia’s awful start to the qualifiers, who lost 0-5 to defending champions Algeria, continued with a 2-1 home loss at the hands of arch rivals Zimbabwe with goals scored by Khama Billiat.
Morocco pick up their first win in Group E, thumping Burundi 3-0 while Mauritania have joined Morocco at the top of Group E with a 2-0 home triumph over Central African Republic.
The Kenya/Egypt match
Tunisia have taken a strong grip on top spot of Group J with a 1-0 win away to Equatorial Guinea while Libya leapfrogged Tanzania by defeating the southeast African side 2-1.
It was another frustrating outing for Egypt as their poor run of form continued with a 0-0 draw away to Comoros.
The Pharaohs, who were without injured Liverpool star Mohamed Salah once more, huffed and puffed, but ultimately failed to break down the hosts in Moroni.
The Super Eagles
The result leaves Egypt third in group G behind both Comoros and Kenya who drew 1-1 with Togo in Nairobi.
Gambia arguably pulled off the surprise result of the first round with a 3-1 win over Angola in Luanda and the Scorpions were able to close off the year with another positive result, as they held the Democratic Republic of Congo to a 2-2 draw.
Mozambique also required a late goal to conjure a 2-2 draw of their own, away to Cape Verde.
The Mambas beat Rwanda 2-0 in Maputo last week and made it four points from two matches thanks to a stoppage-time strike from Witi.