The national football team of Somalia has picked it’s first point in the on-going FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

Somalia held Guinea to a goalless draw in a Group G match played at the Alassane Quattara Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on Friday night.

Goalkeeper Abdirahman Mohamud Jama was the man of the match for the Somali team as he made several saves to deny Guinea any goals.

The Somalian national team had suffered four straight defeats since the qualifiers started last year.

Somalia remained in sixth place on the log with 1 points, while Guinea are third with 7 points. Algeria lead the Group with 12 points, and Mozambique are second with same number of points and less goal difference.

In a Group C match played at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, hosts Rwanda suffered a 2-0 defeat to Nigeria. Turkish based striker Victor James Osimhen netted a brace for the Super Eagles. The Amavubi dropped to third place with 7 points, while South Africa who defeated Lesotho 2-0 lead the Group with 10 points.

Djibouti and Burundi also suffered defeats in Group A matches. Djibouti suffered a 4-1 defeat to Burkina Faso in a match played at the Ben M’Hamed El Abdi Stadium, El Jadida (Morocco), while table leaders Egypt stopped Burundi 2-0.

At the Stade de Martyrs in Kinshasa, DR Congo picked maximum points stopping South Sudan 1-0 in a Group B match. Theo Bongonda netted the lone goal. Burundi also suffered a 1-0 defeat to Ivory Coast in a Group F match.

Action continues on Saturday with Sudan hosting Senegal I a Group B clash in Benghazi, Libya.

The Amavubi of Rwanda will be hungry to pick a positive result away to Benin inorder to maintain their lead in Group C of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

After a draw against Zimbabwe and a deserved 2-0 win against South Africa, Rwanda are top of Group C with 4 points, ahead of South Africa who have 3 points.

Torsten Frank Spittler, the Rwanda coach has made it clear that they will have to handle the match with a lot of caution and discipline. Benin will host the Rwanda team at the Felix H. Boigny Stadium in Ivory Coast.

Ethiopia who have so far collected 1 point from two matches played will also be in action tonight away to Guinea Bissau in a Group A match, while Sudan take on hosts Mauritania in a Group B match in Nouakchott.

Meanwhile in some of the matches played on Wednesday, South Sudan earned a 1-1 draw away to Togo in a Group B tie, while Djibouti suffered a 2-1 defeat to hosts Sierra Leone in a Group A match played in El Jadida in Morocco.

Two teams from the CECAFA Zone Djibouti and South Sudan will this evening be in action away from home in Match 3 of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers 2026.

Djibouti will face Sierra Leone in a Group A match to be played in El Jadida in Morocco, while the Bright Star of South Sudan battle Togo in a Group B match in Lome.

The Djibouti team will be hungry to register their first win in the qualifiers having lost the first two matches played last year. In their opening match of the campaign Djibouti suffered a 6-0 defeat a way to Egypt, and later lost the second match 1-0 to 10-man Guinea Bissau.

Nicolas Dupius, the South Sudan coach has also made I clear that his players are determined to play their hearts out and get a good result. “We know Togo is not an easy team, but we have prepared well and are ready to give our best,” added Dupius.

The Bright Star started with a 4-0 defeat to Senegal, and battled to a goalless draw against Mauritania in the second Group B match.

On Thursday three other teams from the CECAFA Zone will also be in action with Ethiopia playing away to Guinea Bissau in a Group A tie, while Mauritania host Sudan in Nouakchott. Rwanda who have already garnered four points from two matches played will face Benin in Group C match to be played in Senegal

CECAFA giants Uganda will hosts Botswana in a Group G match at their refurbished Mandela National Stadium, Namboole on Friday. The Harambee Stars of Kenya will host Burundi in a Group F match to be played in Malawi, while Mozambique host Somalia with all matches to be played on Friday.

Fixtures for June 5^th, 2024

Sierra Leone vs Djibouti (Group A) | 1600 | El Jadida, Morocco

Togo vs South Sudan (Group B) | 1600 | Lome, Togo

Central African Republic vs Chad (Group I) | 1600 | Oujda, Morocco

Namibia vs Liberia (Group H) | 1600 | Johannesburg, South Africa

Tunisia vs Equatorial Guinea (Group H) | 1900 | Rades, Tunisia

Fixtures for June 6^th, 2024

Malawi vs Sao Tome e Principe (Group H) | 1300 | Lilongwe, Malawi

Guinea Bissau v Ethiopia (Group A) | 1600 | Bissau, Guinea Bissau

Mauritania v Sudan (Group B) | 1600 | Nouakchott, Mauritania

Libya v Mauritius (Group D) | 1600 | Tripoli, Libya

Congo v Niger (Group E) | 1600 | Kinshasa, DR Congo

Egypt v Burkina Faso (Group A) | 1900 | Cairo, Egypt

Senegal v DR Congo (Group B) | 1900 | Diamniadio, Senegal

Benin v Rwanda (Group C) | 1900 | Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire

Algeria v Guinea (Group G) | 1900 | Algiers, Algeria

Mali v Ghana (Group I) | 1900 | Bamako, Mali

The Amavubi of Rwanda are top of Group C with four points after two rounds in the qualifiers of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

Under new coach Torsten Frank Spittler, Rwanda started the campaign with a goalless draw against Zimbabwe last week, and followed it with a sweet 2-0 win against South Africa in a match played on Monday in Huye Stadium, Butare.

The Amavubi are the only team in the group who have not conceded a goal after two matches, with second placed Bafana Bafana (3 points) having conceded three goals, and third placed Nigeria also two goals after two draws.

However, Spittler has made it clear that it is still too early to get excited. ” It is good we have four points after two matches. But we still have a lot of work to do ahead of the other matches of the qualifiers next year, ” added the coach.

In Group B Sudan are placed second after picking a draw against Togo and a 1-0 win against the Democratic Republic of Congo. Senegal who have the same number of points with Sudan have a better goal difference, and South Sudan are bottom of the group with one point. James Kwesi Appiah, the Sudan coach has said although the group is tough, they are also up to the task to perform well. ” After collecting four points, we need to keep working hard to be able to win more matches, ” he added.

Tanzania are placed fourth in Group E with three points after stopping Niger 1-0, but suffered a 2-0 defeat to 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists Morocco.

In Group F Kenya with three points are placed third with three points after they started the campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Gabon, but returned to humble Seychelles 5-0 in the second match. Burundi also with three points are placed fourth after stopping The Gambia 3-2 and lost 2-1 to Gabon in the second match played on Sunday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Uganda Cranes who lost their opening Group G match 2-1 to Guinea and stopped a 10-man Somalia team are placed fourth with three points. Somalia who lost all their two matches are bottom of the log. In Group A after one draw and a loss, Ethiopia are placed fifth, while Djibouti after two defeats are bottom of the group.

Action for the third and fourth round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers 2026 will return in March next year.

Group A: Egypt, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Djibouti

Group B: Senegal, DR Congo, Mauritania, Togo, Sudan, South Sudan

Group C: Nigeria, South Africa, Benin, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Lesotho

Group D: Cameroon, Cape Verde, Angola, Libya, Eswatini, Mauritius

Group E: Morocco, Zambia, Congo, Tanzania, Niger, Eritrea (withdrew)

Group F: Ivory Coast, Gabon, Kenya, The Gambia, Burundi, Seychelles

Group G: Algeria, Guinea, Uganda, Mozambique, Botswana, Somalia

Group H: Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, Malawi, Liberia, Sao Tome and Principe