Uganda Cranes are the first team in the CECAFA Zone to qualify for the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025.

Coach Paul Put’s team benefited from neighbours South Sudan who defeated 10-man Congo Brazzaville 3-2 in a Group K match played earlier in Juba on Thursday.

The wins for South Sudan means Uganda and South Africa who face-off on Friday have both qualified before playing their remaining two matches.

Uganda top Group K with 10 points, while South Africa is second with 10 points. The two automatically qualify because even with wins in their last matches South Sudan and Congo Brazzaville cannot pick the number of points Uganda and South Africa have already collected.

Against Congo Brazzaville the Bright Star of South Sudan had Ebon Ezibon score a first half brace, while Elly Data netted in the second half to make sure the home side collected maximum points after Christopher Ibayi had scored a brace for his team. The visitors had Bryan Passi sent-off at the Juba National Stadium.

The Uganda Cranes started their campaign with a 2-2 away draw against South Africa, and beat Congo Brazzaville 2-0 in Kampala. The Cranes again saw off South Sudan 1-0 in Kampala, and also collected a hard fought 2-1 away win against the same team in Juba.

Uganda and South Africa have now joined other teams that have qualified for AFCON 2025 that include; Morocco, Gabon, Egypt, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Ivory Coast, DR Congo and Burkina Faso.

Uganda returned to the AFCON after last appearing in 2019 when it was held in Egypt. Under the guidance of coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic, Uganda Cranes broke their 39-year AFCON jinx when they qualified for the 2017 AFCON that took place in Gabon.

The Falcons of Jediane, Sudan will be all out to win against Niger on Thursday to seal qualification for the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025.

Sudan who are placed second in Group F with 7 points need to beat bottom placed Niger in a match that will be played at the Stade de Kegue in Lome, Togo.

James Kwesi Appiah, the Sudan head coach has said his team is aware of what this match against Niger means to them and they are more than determined to collect maximum points. “We must go all out and hurt for the goals and also defend well as a unit,” said Appiah.

Sudan improved their chances of qualification last month when they held Ghana to a 1-1 draw in the away match, and later picked a 2-0 win against the same side in a match they hosted at the Martyrs of February Stadium in Benina, Libya.

The Sudan team will hope that Ahmed Al Tash and Mohamed Abdelrahman who scored against Ghana last month find their scoring touch again in this important fixture. Victory for Sudan will mean they automatically qualify before event facing table leaders Angola (12 points) in their last Group match.

On Thursday three other teams from the CECAFA Zone Rwanda, South Sudan and Burundi will also be in action.

Rwanda who are placed third in Group D will need to beat bottom placed Libya to revive their hopes of qualification. The match will take place at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali.

 Torsten Spittler Frank, the Amavubi head coach has called on his players to go all out and fight to pick three points. The second Group D match will see table leaders Nigeria face second placed Benin.

South Sudan who are yet to collect a single point in the qualifiers will play host to Congo Brazzaville in a Group K match that will take place at the Juba National Stadium, while Burundi will host Malawi in a Group L match at the Felix Houhouet Boigny Stadium in Abijan, Ivory Coast.

Action will return on Friday with Uganda hosting South Africa in a Group K match that promises to be a thriller. Kenya will also play away to Zimbabwe in a Group J match to be played at the Peter Moraba Stadium in Polokwane, South Africa.

Fixture for CECAFA teams

November 14

Rwanda vs Libya

Niger vs Sudan

South Sudan vs Congo Brazzaville

Burundi vs Malawi

November 15

Zimbabwe vs Kenya

Uganda vs South Africa

November 16

Ethiopia vs Tanzania

Rwanda head coach Frank Spittler says he is happy with the way his team rose to the occasion to beat Benin 2-1 in a Group D match of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 qualifiers on Tuesday night.

The win not only revived Rwanda’s hopes of qualifying for the AFCON 2025, but also ensured the national team broke the 12-year jinx against Benin.

Andreas Hountondji put Benin ahead after 42 minutes at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali. But the Amavubi returned a charged and determined team to level matters through Innocent Nshuti after 70 minutes, and later a penalty conversion by Djihad Bizimana five minutes later.

The win sent Rwanda to 5 points, one behind Benin. Nigeria who did not play their away match against Libya in Benghazi top the group with 7 points.

“I am very happy that my players came all out in the second half and played good football to win the game. I am excited about the attitude they showed and we need to keep working hard even for the remaining two matches,” added Spittler.

The German also made it clear that the local fans should learn to support the national team at all teams even when results are not positive. “The team also needs a lot of motivation by the support,” added Spittler.

The Amavubi will host bottom placed Libya on November 10 in Kigali, and later travel to face Nigeria eight days later in their last Group match.

Meanwhile, CECAFA’s other representatives Ethiopia suffered a 3-0 defeat to Guinea in a Group H match played in Ivory Coast on Tuesday night.

Ethiopia remains bottom of the Group with 1 points, while DR Congo who beat hosts Tanzania 2-0 on Tuesday already booked a place at the AFCON 2025. Guinea are in second place with 6 points, and Tanzania third with 4 points.

Collected results

Burundi 0 Burkina Faso 2

Kenya 0 Cameroon 1

Sudan 2 Ghana 0

Tanzania 0 DR Congo 2

South Sudan 1 Uganda 2

Rwanda 2 Benin 1

Ethiopia 0 Guinea 3

Uganda Cranes and Sudan have registered important wins to brighten their chances of qualifying for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025.

Coach Paul Put guided Uganda Cranes to a 2-1 win away to South Sudan in a Group K match of the qualifiers played at the Juba National Stadium on Tuesday.

Denis Omedi gave Uganda the lead with a 15^th minute strike, but Yohanna Juma leveled matters six minutes later.

After recess substitute Travis Mutyaba’s free kick was diverted by Alfred Leku for an own goal to restore Uganda’s lead after 66 minutes. The South Sudan team tried to push forward in search of more goals, but failed to beat Uganda’s defending line.

The win sent Uganda further top of Group K with 10 points, while South Africa who later drew 1-1 away to Congo Brazzaville moved to 8 points.

In a Group F match played at the Martyrs Stadium in Libya, hosts Sudan scored two second half goals to defeat former African champions Ghana 2-0.

Amed Hamed Mahamed and Mohamed Abdelrahman netted the goals to send Sudan to 7 points with two matches to spare. Angola who will face Niger later lead the Group with 9 points.

At the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam, hosts Tanzania suffered a 2-0 defeat to DR Congo in a Group H match of the qualifier. Meshak Elia netted two late goals to ensure DR Congo qualified for the AFCON 2025 with two more matches yet to be played.

Tanzania remain in second place with 4 points, while Guinea who are placed third with 3 points were yet to play bottom placed Ethiopia later.

Two other teams from the CECAFA Zone Burundi and Kenya also suffered defeats in matches played on Sunday and Monday respectively. Burkina Faso stopped Burundi 2-0, while Kenya lost 1-0 to Cameroon in a match played at the Nelson Mandela Stadium, Namboole in Kampala, Uganda.

Collected results

Burundi 0 Burkina Faso 2

Kenya 0 Cameroon 1

Sudan 2 Ghana 0

Tanzania 0 DR Congo 2

South Sudan 1 Uganda 2