Last kicks of the year

 

As 2024 drew to a close, the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers reached its conclusion. Niger brushed Sudan away 4-0 with a double from Daniel Sosah in Togo while Togo themselves put 3 past their visitors from Equatorial Guinea with a brace from Yaw Annor, and 2 goals from Brahim Diaz helped Morocco to a 5-1 rout in Gabon. Rwanda were stunned 1-0 at home to Libya and failed to qualify despite later shocking their Nigerian hosts 2-1 while DR Congo suffered a 1-0 loss with a stoppage-time goal in Guinea before being humiliated 2-1 in front of their home crowd by Ethiopia and Tunisia were embarrassed 1-0 at home to Gambia as were Mozambique who were hosting Mali. Burkina Faso fell apart 3-0 in Malawi while Zambia scored twice against Sierra Leone in Liberia and South Africa achieved the same result in Uganda. Egypt could only manage a 1-1 home draw against Botswana and Ghana drew 1-1 in Angola while Cameroon and Namibia played a barren match in South Africa and Ivory Coast lost 1-0 in Zambia.

In the Asian section of the World Cup qualifiers, with Almoez Ali and Abbosbek Fayzullaev having scored 2 apiece for hosts Qatar and Uzbekistan respectively, the Qataris scored a winner deep into stoppage time but were hammered 5-0 in the United Arab Emirates five days later with 4 goals from Fabio Lima while Australia drew blanks at home to Saudi Arabia who on their return home were stunned 2-0 by Indonesia for whom Marselino Ferdinan scored both goals. China upset Bahrain 1-0 with a late goal in Riffa and South Korea could only muster a 1-1 draw against Palestine in Jordan while in the South American section, Bolivia were taken to the cleaners 4-0 with 2 goals from Gonzalo Plata in Ecuador who also celebrated a 1-0 win in Colombia and moved up into fourth place in the football rankings. Argentina took the lead but left Paraguay 2-1 losers while 2 goals from Lucas Cepeda helped Chile to a 4-2 home win over Venezuela.

In Oceania Tahiti scored twice against Vanuatu in New Zealand while in the CONCACAF Nations League in Curaçao, Keelan Lebon scored 2 late goals to send shockwaves around the Caribbeans as Saint Martin humiliated Grenada 3-0 and in a friendly tournament in Tajikistan, Nepal enjoyed a 2-0 win over Afghanistan.

Shaping up

The Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers reached its final stages while The Asian qualifiers for the World Cup began to give a clearer picture of the automatic qualifiers and in South America their World Cup qualifiers moved into the second half of fixtures.

Botswana upset hosts Cape Verde 1-0 while Burkina Faso bounced back from an early goal to celebrate qualification in front of their home crowd by thumping Burundi 4-1 with a double from Dango Ouattara and Eswatini picked up a useless point in their 1-1 draw in Mozambique. Tunisia were stunned 1-0 at home to Comoros and Ivory Coast suffered the same fate against Sierra Leone in Liberia while Rwanda were beaten 3-0 by Benin in Ivory Coast but came from behind to win 2-1 in their own backyard. Maschak Elia scored 2 late goals in Tanzania as DR Congo secured passage to the Africa Cup of Nations finals while Gabon kept their hopes alive with 2 goals against Lesotho in South Africa and Chad held hosts Zambia to a goalless draw.

In World Cup qualifiers in Asia, South Korea scored twice in Jordan while Oman put 4 past their visitors from Kuwait with a brace from Al Mushairifi and both teams scored own goals as Australia drew 1-1 in Japan. In South America, 10 Bolivians sent Colombia home 1-0 losers while Uruguay fell to a late goal in Peru.

In the CONCACAF Nations League, Keelan Lebon scored twice as Saint Martin celebrated an unbelievable 4-0 victory in St Lucia while Sint Maarten defeated Puerto Rico 3-2 in Aruba with a double from Chovanie Amatkarijo and a single goal gave Bonaire a win over Montserrat in St Vincent. Philippines shocked Tajikistan 3-0 in the King’s Cup in Thailand.

Early September steps

 

The Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers began in September with Ethiopia earning a 0-0 draw in Tanzania, who later came from behind to defeat Guinea 2-1 in Ivory Coast, while Angola broke the deadlock in stoppage time to win in Ghana and Malawi lost 3-2 to a late goal at home to Burundi. Egypt won 3-0 at home to Cape Verde before travelling to Botswana where Trezeguet scored 2 goals in their 4-0 win while South Africa needed added time to salvage a 2-2 home draw against Uganda and there were 1-1 draws for Burkina Faso who scored in stoppage time away to Senegal and for Liberia who did the same in Togo. Ademola Lookman scored a double as Nigeria sent Benin home 3-0 losers while in an Asian Cup qualifier play-off match in Indonesia, João Pedro scored a hat-trick as East Timor swept Mongolia aside 4-1 and Sri Lanka scored late in extra time to draw 2-2 before eliminating their hosts Cambodia in a penalty shootout. In World Cup qualifiers in the Asian section, the UAE came from behind to celebrate a 3-1 victory in Qatar and Bahrain stunned their Australian hosts 1-0, but were thumped 5-0 by Japan on their return home with doubles from Ayase Ueda and Hidemasa morita while Kuwait and Indonesia achieved 1-1 draws in Jordan and Saudi Arabia respectively and South Korea, who were held to a goalless draw by the travelling Palestinians, bounced back with a 3-1 win in Oman.

In South America Venezuela were taken apart 4-0 in Bolivia who also triumphed 2-1 in Chile while Paraguay drew 0-0 in Uruguay before beating Brazil 1-0 at home and Colombia overcame world champions Argentina 2-1 in front of their jubilant home crowd.

In a World Cup qualifier in the Oceania section, Tonga enjoyed a 3-1 win over Cook Islands in Samoa.