Sports

African countries jostle for 2026 FIFA World Cup slots as qualifiers begin

Published

5 months ago

November 16, 2023

African teams have begun jostling for places in the 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup, as the qualifiers kicked off on Wednesday with four matches played.

Nine group winners in the African qualifications will qualify automatically for the expanded 48-team tournament which will hold in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

In the opening encounters, four matches were played in Butare, Malabo, Kinshasa and El Jadida in what was the opening day of the qualifiers for the quadrennial global tournament, and will set the tone for an expected hectic next few days.

The matches on display were:

Rwanda vs Zimbabwe: 0-0

Zimbabwe played their first competitive match since January 2022 following a FIFA ban and held Rwanda to a 0-0 draw at Stade Huye in Group C which also has Nigeria and Lesotho.

The draw would seem a good one for Nigeria who take on The Crocodiles on Thursday as a win will see them sit at the top of the log with maximum points.

Equitorial Guinea vs Namibia: 1-0

In Group H, Equitorial Guinea managed to pip Namibia6 1-0 with the only goal of the match scored by former Middlesbrough and Birmingham City striker, Emilio Nsue, in the 67th minute separating the two sides in the match played at the Nuevo Estadio de Malabo.

DR Congo vs Mauritania: 2-0

Brentford midfielder, Yoane Wissa was on the scoresheet for DR Congo as they began their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 victory over Mauritania.

Wissa showed the stuff he was made of when he slotted home from 10 yards to put the Leopards ahead in the 62nd minute before Theo Bongonda rounded off a counter-attack with nine minutes remaining to seal a valuable win in the Group B opener at the Stade des Martyrs de la Pentecote in Kinshasa.

Ethiopia vs Sierra Leone: 0-0

Ethiopia and Sierra Leone settled for another goalless draw on the first day of the qualifiers in a Group A tie played in neutral Morocco.

The match, initially scheduled for Addis Ababa, was moved to Morocco due to the conflict in the Horn of Africa nation.

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Sports

Al Ahly, Esperance to clash in CAF Champions League final

Published

1 day ago

April 27, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Two of Africa’s club giants, Egypt’s Al Ahly and Esperance of Tunisia, will do battle next month over two legs for the right to be crowned champions of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.

Title-holders Al Ahly and their long-standing rivals Esperance both booked their places in the final with dramatic semi-final victories over DR Congo”s TP Mazembe and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa respectively on Friday night.

While Al Ahly, winners of five of the last seven editions of the continent’s top draw tournament, with a record 11 in total, overcame TP Mazembe with a 3-0 aggregate victory in the semi-final second leg after a goalless first leg last Saturday, Esperance surprised Sundowns with a 1-0 victory in Pretoria to wrap up a 2-0 aggregate win.

The two-legged final will mark the third encounter between Ahly and Esperance in the Champions League final, with the Egyptians winning in 2012 and the Tunisians triumphing in 2018.

In 2023, the two clubs clashed in the semi-finals with Ahly emerging victorious home and away, securing a 4-0 aggregate triumph.

Esperance who are aiming for a fifth Champions League title, will host the first leg in Rades on May 18, with the return fixture scheduled in Cairo seven days later.

Sports

Former Zambian captain Rainford Kalaba discharged from hospital after near-fatal accident

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Former Zambian national team captain, Rainford Kalaba, has been discharged from hospital weeks after he was involved in a near-fatal accident where he sustained serious injuries.

The accident which involved a head-on collision between a Mercedes-Benz car in which Kalaba was in, and a truck, had initially sparked fears for his life and has since been in the Intensive Care Unit of the Zambian University Teaching Hospital (UTH).

The good news on the footballer’s progress was released by the UTH Public Relations Officer, Nzeba Chanda, who informed that the Chipolopolo legend has been discharged after showing positive signs of recovery.

“Mr. Rainford Kalaba has been discharged from the UTH-Adult where he was admitted after being involved in a road traffic accident two weeks ago,” Chanda said, adding that Kalaba will continue his recovery at his family home.

According to local media reports, the 37-year-old was a passenger in a Mercedes Benz when it collided with an oncoming truck in the south-eastern Zambian town of Kafue a week and five days ago.

In his active playing days, Kalaba spent the majority of his club career at TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo, winning the CAF Champions League with the club in 2015 and the CAF Confederation Cup in 2016.

He also had a spell with clubsides in Portugal including FC Braga, and was a major part of the Zambian squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012 under Frenchman, Herve Renard.