{"id":5469,"date":"2026-09-24T22:07:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T22:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=5469"},"modified":"2026-09-24T22:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T22:07:07","slug":"dr-congo-and-ivory-coast-top-africa-cup-of-nations-qualifying-opening-wins-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=5469","title":{"rendered":"DR Congo and Ivory Coast top Africa Cup of Nations qualifying opening wins | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DR Congo beat Equatorial Guinea, while Ivory Coast cruise by Ghana and Cameroon beat Comoros as AFCON qualifiers begin.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Published On 24 Sep 2026<\/span>24 Sep 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Democratic Republic of the Congo followed up their World Cup exploits \u2060with a 2-0 \u2060home win over Equatorial Guinea on the opening day of the group qualifiers for next year\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations.<\/p>\n

Captain Chancel \u2060Mbemba headed home the opening goal in the fourth minute, and Yoane Wissa added a second 18 minutes from time in Kinshasa on Thursday, although \u2060the scoreline might have been more emphatic after they twice struck the woodwork and also had two efforts ruled offside.<\/p>\n

It was the first game for the Congolese after advancing through the first phase of the World Cup for the first time \u200cand running England close in their last-32 tie in Atlanta in July.<\/p>\n

However, there was no opportunity for home supporters to celebrate their achievement as the size of the crowd at the Stade des Martyrs was restricted to 20,000 after sanctions for fan violence that followed defeat by Senegal in World Cup qualification one year ago.<\/p>\n

Mauritania and Namibia were also winners \u2060in Thursday\u2019s early games, while Libya netted a last-gasp penalty \u2060to salvage a 2-2 draw at home to Botswana behind closed doors in Tripoli, where the stadium was also banned because of previous supporter violence.<\/p>\n

Botswana striker Tumisang Orebonye scored a double \u2060in the first half to put his side on course for a rare away win before Maruwan Alhibeeshi thrashed \u2060home from the edge of the area to \u2060pull one back in the 87th minute.<\/p>\n

Botswana substitute Mothusi Cooper gave away a stoppage-time penalty with a clumsy challenge, allowing Ezoo El Mariamy to rescue a draw.<\/p>\n

Mauritania won 3-1 over the Central \u200cAfrican Republic in Casablanca, Morocco, which included a superb chipped effort over the goalkeeper from Dawda Camara, while Bethuel Muzeu scored the only goal as Namibia \u200cedged \u200cCongo.<\/p>\n

Ivory Coast beat Ghana 2-0<\/a> in a derby in Bouake in a Group C encounter.<\/p>\n

A stunning strike from Malick Yalcouye opened the scoring from outside the box in the first half, although the Ghana keeper, Lawrence Ati-Zigi, will feel he should have done better at his near post.<\/p>\n

Franck Kessie gave the Black Stars stopper no chance as he sent his opponent the wrong way with a side-footed second-half penalty.<\/p>\n

Ghana, who failed to qualify for the 2025 edition of AFCON, are left to reflect on a match where they failed to register a shot on target until the 75th minute. They also conceded 61 percent of possession to their hosts.<\/p>\n

Cameroon beat Comoros 3-1, while Tunisia were held to a 1-1 draw by Uganda in the pick of the other ties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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DR Congo beat Equatorial Guinea, while Ivory Coast cruise by Ghana and Cameroon beat Comoros as AFCON qualifiers begin. Published On 24 Sep 202624 Sep 2026 The Democratic Republic of the Congo followed up their World Cup exploits \u2060with a 2-0 \u2060home win over Equatorial Guinea on the opening day of the group qualifiers for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t