CAN 2025 (Q): Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal ensure, Tunisia disappoints

The qualifications for the next African Nations Cup continued this Friday evening, with several matches of the third day.

Côte d’Ivoire, title holder, received Sierra Leone for a match that promised to be rather affordable. However, the elephants had to fight to win. Nicolas Pépé quickly opened the scoring in the 3rd minute, but Franck Kessié missed the opportunity to aggravate the scoring by missing a penalty in the 37th minute.

The Sierra-Léonais took the opportunity to equalize just before half-time thanks to Alhassan Koroma. Upon returning from the locker room, Kessié gave the Ivorians the advantage in the 51st minute before transforming a second penalty in the 76th. Finally, Oumar Diakité concluded the meeting by scoring in the 87th minute, offering Côte d’Ivoire a 4-1 victory and a third success in this group G.

For its part, Senegal, for its first post Aliou Cissé match, largely dominated Malawi. Pope Gueye, served by Iliman Ndiaye, opened the scoring in the first period, before the Lions of the Teranga took place in the second half with three goals scored between the 69th and the 78th minute by Sadio Mané, Boulaye Dia and Nicolas Jackson. Thanks to this 4-0 success, Senegal joins Burkina Faso at the top of group L with 7 points.

The surprise of the evening is the place of Tunis, where Tunisia lost at home against the Comoros. Despite their domination, the Carthage Eagles were surprised by a goal from Rafiki Said in the 63rd minute. This result allows Comoros to return to a point in Tunisia in group A.

At the same time, Mali took first place in its group by beating Guinea-Bissau 1-0, thanks to a goal from El-Bilal Touré. Angola, meanwhile, arranged Niger 2-0 thanks to a penalty from Mabululu and a late Milson goal. Finally, the match between Gabon and Lesotho ended in a 0-0 draw.