Morocco Beat Cameroon 2-0 and Qualify
Morocco qualified for next year's Africa Cup of Nations
without kicking a ball on Saturday while Mali won 1-0 in Gabon to progress.
The
Atlas Lions qualify with a game to spare after Comoros' shock 2-1 home win
against Malawi.
Morocco
beat Cameroon 2-0 on Friday in Group B, while Mali made it through from Group
C.
The
Eagles' narrow win means they are guaranteed to finish in the top two.
Gabon,
meanwhile, must win in Burundi to have any chance of making the finals but a
home win will take the East Africans to their first Nations Cup.
Mali
boast 11 points from Group C, while Burundi - who beat South Sudan 5-2 on
Friday - have nine, two more than Gabon while the South Sudanese have yet to
win a point.
Morocco Milestone
In
Casablanca on Friday, Hakim Ziyech scored twice to condemn the African
champions to their first defeat under Clarence Seedorf.
Mali
and Morocco join Egypt, Madagascar, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia and Uganda in
next year's finals.
"Congratulations
to players and staff for this brilliant qualification," tweeted Morocco
coach Herve Renard on Saturday.
The
North Africans finally beat Cameroon at the twelfth time of asking, having lost
seven and drawn four of their previous encounters, which date back to 1981.
The
final round of Group B games take place in March, with the Indomitable Lions
assured their place as Nations Cup hosts.
The
Cameroonians are participating in the qualifiers to ensure competitive match
practice and they sit second in the group with 8 points, two fewer than
Morocco, while Comoros rise to five points, one more than Malawi.
The win
is only the third for Comoros in Nations Cup qualifying history, following on
from victory over Mauritius in the 2019 preliminary phase as well as a 1-0 win
over Botswana in 2017 qualifying.
Senegal,
meanwhile, won 1-0 in Equatorial Guinea on Saturday courtesy of an own goal
from Luis Meseguer to extend their lead in Group A.
The
Senegalese now have 13 points, three more than second-placed Madagascar who
host a Sudan side looking for their first points in Antananarivo on Sunday.
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