Borussia Dortmund star Serhou Guirassy will miss the Africa Cup of Nations next year after Tanzania upset his Guinea team 1-0 to qualify at the visitors’ expense.
Botswana and Mozambique grabbed the last qualification places to complete the lineup for the 24-team tournament in Morocco.
Stanley Ratifo scored early in the second half to give Mozambique a 2-1 win in Guinea-Bissau, ending the home team’s hopes of securing the runner-up spot behind Group I winner Mali, who ended their campaign with a 6-0 rout of last-place Eswatini.
Botswana ended their 12-year wait for a second Africa Cup appearance with a 1-1 draw against already-qualified Egypt.
Omaatla Kebatho’s early goal in Cairo was enough for Botswana to finish runner-up in Group C, one point ahead of Mauritania, who beat Cape Verde 1-0 in the other group game.
Seven-time champion Egypt finished with 14 points from six games, followed by Botswana on eight, Mauritania on seven and Cape Verde with four.
Guinea needed just a point in their final Group H game in Tanzania, but the visitors appeared to playing for the draw and were caught out in the 61st minute when Simon Msuva scored with a diving header to set off unbridled celebrations among the home fans.
It lifted Tanzania into second place, one point ahead of Guinea, to qualify as runner-up behind group winner Congo. It is just the fourth time the Taifa Stars have qualified for the tournament.
Four-time champion Ghana failed to qualify for the first time since 2004. The Black Stars’ campaign ended on Monday with a 2-1 loss at home to Niger. It left the team bottom with no wins in Group F.
Sudan qualified on Monday with a 0-0 draw against group winners Angola, who had already secured qualification.
Benin also secured qualification on Monday with a 0-0 draw in Libya to finish runner-up behind group winners Nigeria, who had already qualified before losing their final group game, 2-1 at home to Rwanda.
Comoros, Zambia, Mali, and Zimbabwe secured their qualification last Friday, while Nigeria, Tunisia, South Africa, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon clinched their spots on Thursday.
Host nation Morocco, defending champion Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Algeria, Congo, Cameroon, Senegal, Equatorial Guinea and Angola were already qualified before the penultimate round of qualifiers.
Morocco will host the Africa Cup from December 21, 2025 to January 18, 2026.
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