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.

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

Uganda Cranes have kept their TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 qualification hopes alive after a hard fought 1-0 win against South Sudan in a match played on Friday night at the Nelson Mandela Stadium, Namboole.

Cyprus based defender Bevis Mugabi scored the lone goal two minutes after the interval when he finished off a rebound after the South Sudan defenders failed to clear their lines off a corner.

While the Uganda coach Paul Joseph Put made some changes and the hosts pushed forward in the second half, the South Sudan team defended for longer spells.

The win takes Uganda to seven points in Group K after their earlier matches that saw them draw 2-2 away to South Africa and a 2-0 home win against Congo Brazzaville.

In the other matches played by CECAFA teams on Friday night, Kenya suffered a 4-1 defeat away to Cameroon, while Rwanda also lost 3-0 away to Benin.

Vincent Aboubakar netted from the spot, while Martin Hongla, Bryan Mbeumo and Christian Mouyang Bassong netted for the home side in the Group J match at the Japoma Stadium. Skipper Micheal Olunga scored the lone goal for Kenya.

Against Benin in a Group D match, the home side scored through Steve Mounie, Andreas Hountondji and Hassane Imourane.

Collected results

Ghana 0 Sudan 0

DR Congo 1 Tanzania 0

Burkina Faso 4 Burundi 1

Benin 3 Rwanda 0

Uganda 1 South Sudan 0

Cameroon 4 Kenya 1