Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia chase the “sixth”

Johannesburg (AFP)

The Arab candidate teams hope to go an extra mile towards the 35th Africa Cup of Nations, which Morocco will host between December 21, 2025 and January 18, 2026, when they travel outside their home bases in the second round of the continental qualifiers.
The Tunisian national team will kick off the second round when it visits its Gambian counterpart on Sunday, which will play its home matches at the Abdi Stadium in the Moroccan city of El Jadida, as part of Group 1.
The Carthage Eagles, led by veteran coach Faouzi Benzarti, had suffered greatly before defeating their guest, the Madagascar national team, with a late goal by Ferjani Sassi.
Tunisia’s performance was affected by the absence of Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Elyes Skhiri, but they will recover captain Youssef Msakni to provide attacking support for the squad, in addition to Lugano midfielder Mohamed Haj Mahmoud.
Madagascar will meet Comoros on Monday.
The Moroccan national team will remain in the city of Agadir, where it will be a guest of its host, Lesotho, at the “Adrar” stadium, as part of the second group competitions.
The Atlas Lions proved their worth after defeating their Gabonese guests 4-1 in the opening match of their qualifiers.
The Egyptian team will have a tough trip to Francistown to face its host Botswana on Tuesday in Group Three.
The Pharaohs hope to reach the sixth point after defeating Cape Verde in the first match in Cairo by three clean goals.
Coach Hossam Hassan’s team gave a strong and consistent performance, especially in the first half, and Nantes striker Mostafa Mohamed may be absent from the match due to a muscle injury.
Cape Verde host Mauritania on Tuesday in Praia.
The Algerian national team will travel to the Liberian capital, Monrovia, to face its national team on Tuesday, in Group Five.
The Algerian team hopes to return with the three points, knowing that the match will be difficult, especially since it will be held on artificial turf.
The Greens achieved a difficult victory over their Equatorial Guinean guests, 2-0, in Oran in the first round.
Rayan Ait-Nouri and Mohamed Amine Amoura will be absent from the Desert Foxes, by decision of Serbian coach Vladimir Petkovic, to give them enough time to recover from their injuries.
Liberia snatched an important 1-1 draw from hosts Togo, who will be visiting Equatorial Guinea.
The Sudanese national team will also face a difficult test against its Angolan host in Luanda on Tuesday, in Group Six. The “Falcons of Jediane” team had begun its mission in the qualifiers with an important victory over its guest Niger by one goal.
In the same group, Ghana is looking to make up for its loss in the opening match of the qualifiers against Angola by a single goal.