It’s advantage for South Sudan and Sudan after the two teams picked vital wins in the first leg matches of the last round of the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) 2024 qualifiers on Sunday.

South Sudan stopped Rwanda 3-2 in a match played at the Juba National Stadium in Juba, while Sudan stopped Ethiopia 2-0 in a match played in Libya.

After 12 minutes an own goal by Aimable Nsabimana gave the home side the lead. Mandela Malish increased South Sudan’s lead after 20 minutes.

Rwanda returned determined after the interval and pulled a goal back through Kevin Muhire after only four minutes.

But the home team continued to attack in numbers and Ebon Malish netted their third goal after 53 minutes. The visitors however did not give up and scored a second goal through Didier Mugisha after 66 minutes.

In the second match involving teams from the CECAFA Zone Ethiopia who hosted the first leg match in Libya suffered a 2-0 defeat to Sudan in a match played at the Benghazi Martyrs Stadium, Benina.

Yasir Mozamil and Musa Kanti netted the goals for Sudan.

On December 26^th, 2024 Burundi will host Uganda in the first leg to be played at the Nakivubo Hamz Stadium in Kampala. The return legs for the three matches will be played between December 27-29th, 2024.

Already hosts of the CHAN 2024 Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have automatically qualified ahead of the 19 teams tournament exclusively featuring players from domestic leagues across Africa.

The tournament will take place in East Africa from February 1-28, 2025.