JOHANNESBURG: Benin, the Cape Verde Islands, Gabon and Mozambique made up a quartet of unfancied sides who took over at the top of their World Cup qualifying groups on Thursday as the African preliminaries for the 2026 finals neared the halfway mark.

Cape Verde lead Group ‘D’ after Yannick Semedo’s late goal gave them a 1-0 home win over Mauritius, with 10 points to Cameroon’s nine.

Two goalkeeping errors from Ismail Watenga plus the first- half sending off of Denis Omedi enabled Mozambique to post a comfortable a 3-1 win over Uganda in Cairo and take top place in Group ‘G’.

Mozambique, with four victories from five matches, have a three-point advantage over group favourites Algeria, who have a game in hand.

Benin let slip a two-goal lead against Zimbabwe but moved top of hotly-contested Group ‘C’.

Steve Mounie and Francisco Doku put Benin ahead after 35 minutes but Marshall Munetsi pulled one back on the break.

Veteran striker Knowledge Musona equalised in the 59th minute in Durban, South Africa, where Zimbabwe hosted the match because their own stadiums were not up to the required standards.

Benin have eight points, Rwanda and South Africa seven each, Lesotho five and Nigeria and Zimbabwe three each.

Gabon lead Group ‘F’ with 12 points after a double from Denis Bouanga inspired them to an easy 3-0 home win over lowly-ranked Seychelles in Franceville.

Reigning African champions Ivory Coast have 10 points with a game in hand. Burundi have seven points, Kenya six, Gambia four and Seychelles none.

A last-gasp equaliser from new cap William Wilson saw Kenya draw 3-3 away against the Gambia in Abidjan.

Namibia were 1-0 away winners over Malawi in Group ‘H’ with Prins Tjiuezus first-half goal ensuring they kept up the pressure on leaders Tunisia, who won away in Liberia on Wednesday. Tunisia are two points ahead of second-placed Namibia in the standings.

Sierra Leone marked their first win of the qualifiers in new coach Mohamed Kallon’s debut as they beat Guinea Bissau 3-1 in Monrovia in neighbouring Liberia. Sierra Leone joined Guinea Bissau on five points, both well behind Group ‘A’ leaders Egypt on 10.

Only the nine group winners in Africa are guaranteed places at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2025