Tunisia lead Flames Group H after beating São Tomé e Principe 4-0

* Four goals make them strong leaders as both Malawi and Equatorial Guinea win by 1-0 margins

* As ruthless giants Cote d’Ivoire annihilate  Seychelles 9-0 as Cameroon beat Mauritius 3-0

* Ghana left it late to break Madagascar’s resistance in the 96th minute to win 1-0

By Duncan Mlanjira

Group H favourites, Tunisia, whom Malawi Flames meet on Tuesday at Bingu Stadium, beat São Tomé e Principe 4-0 to take the lead of Group H on goal difference following 1-0 win margins Malawi over Liberia yesterday in Monrovia and Equatorial Guinea against Namibia on Wednesday.

The 23rd edition of the FIFA World Cup tournament is through a complex qualification as the final — to be hosted jointly by the United States of America, Mexico and Canada — will have 48 participating countries instead of the conventional 32 giving an advantage for Africa to field more teams.

The top team from each group after Match Day 10 shall earn an automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup finals and additionally, the four best second-placed teams from all nine groups will engage in a continental playoff, determining a single victor who will then proceed to a second and final playoff. 

This final stage will comprise six teams from various confederations, with the top two emerging as qualified participants, ultimately making up the 48 competing teams.

The Match Days began this week, November 13-21, 2023 and the next match days will be held on June 3-11, 2024; March 17-25, 2025; September 1-9, 2025; October 6-14, 2025; and November 10-18, 2025.

So goals are needed for each and every result for the best runners-up spot from each group — thus Tunisia now have an upper hand in Group H comprising the Carthage Eagles, The Flames, Liberia, Namibia, Equatorial Guinea and São Tomé e Principe.

This is also the case with Côte d’Ivoire, who began their qualifying campaign in scintillating fashion, destroying Seychelles 9-0 on Friday — a result that also made a strong statement of their resolve ahead of hosting the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in January.

Teenage striker Karim Konate and substitute Hamed Traore netted twice and a report by CAFonline said it took the reflexes of Seychelles goalkeeper Carlos Simoen to damage control with several excellent saves to prevent further humiliation for the minnows in the one-sided rout.

Elsewhere, some African heavyweights endured more laboured victories as favourites like Cameroon and Ghana lacked fluency despite ultimately prevailing over low-ranked opposition.

Cameroon led Mauritius just 1-0 at halftime and only pulled away late for a 3-0 win. Ghana left it even later, finally breaking Madagascar’s resistance in the 96th minute through Inaki Williams.

Mali and Zambia claimed solid home victories over Chad and Congo respectively while the Comoros Islands beat the Central African Republic 4-2 in an entertaining encounter.

On Thursday, Mohamed Salah scored four goals to lead Egypt past Djibouti 6-0 with the Liverpool star has now scored 53 goals in 93 games for his country.

Nigeria were held to a shock 1-1 home draw by Lesotho in Group C despite dominating the game while Mozambique claimed a rare away win in Botswana with Algeria in unconvincing 3-1 victors over Somalia.

Gabon fought back to edge Kenya 2-1 while Burundi won their first game 3-2 against The Gambia in Tanzania as Sudan and Togo drew 1-1 in their Libya-hosted clash.

Cape Verde and Angola failed to capitalise on their Group D opener, drawing 0-0 in a game of missed chances while the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) defeated Mauritania 2-0 at home in Group B.—Info from CAFonline