Gambia And Ghana Qualify For Africa Cup of Nations

The Gambia and Ghana qualified for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations finals on Thursday to follow in the footsteps of Gabon, Comoros, Egypt, Guinea, Mali, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Senegal and hosts Cameroon.

Another 12 places will be up for grabs during the final match day between March 29 and 30 with South Africa among those close to securing places.

Assan Ceesay scored the all-important match winner for the Gambia in the 62nd minute, to clinch one of the two places from Group D.

Gabon secured the other spot after a well worked 3-0 victory over DR Congo at the Stade de la Renovation de Franceville.

Aaron Boupendza, Denis Bouanga and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang scored the goals for the Panthers hence bundling the Congolese out of the tournament.

Elsewhere, Ghana have a booked a ticket to Cameroon next year after a one-all draw with South Africa in Group C match played at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

The Black Stars broke the deadlock on the 48th minute of the game courtesy of Ajax sensation Kudus Mohammed who evaded Siyanda Xulu to slot in off the bottom post and into the net.

Four minutes later, Brighton and Hove Albion forward Percy Tau levelled the score for South Africa with a fine strike following a defensive error by the Black Stars.

In Francistown, Zimbabwe moved closer to qualification, for their third straight AFCON finals, with a 1-0 win over Botswana.

Perfect Chikwende scored the solitary strike on the quarter hour mark to take the Warriors to eight points, on the table, two behind African champions, Algeria.