Tanzania sink Niger in FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier

The Taifa Stars of Tanzania have made a fine start in Group E of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

Tanzania who will play at the AFCON 2023 kick started their campaign with a hard earned 1-0 win against Niger in a match played at the Marrakech Stadium in Morocco on Saturday evening.

Charles M’Mbombwa netted the lone goal after 56 minutes. The Niger team tried to fight back to level matters, but failed to break through the Taifa Stars defending line marshaled by Dickson Job, Ibrahim Bacca and Bakari Nondo Mwamnyeto.

Tanzania’s coach Adel Amrouche said it was good to start the campaign with a win, but added that they must get back and prepare for the next match against Morocco slated for November 21st in Dar es Salaam.

On the same day South Sudan suffered a 4-0 defeat away to Senegal in a Group B match played at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium.

Midfielder Pape Sarr opened the scoring for the Teranga Lions in the first minute. Later Sadio Mane picked a brace, and Lamine Camara also got on the score sheet.

On Friday Uganda Cranes also suffered a 2-1 loss to Guinea in a match played in Morocco. Aquibou Camara gave Guinea the lead in the 10th minute, but Fahd Bayo leveled matters for Uganda after 30 minutes. With four of added time before the end of the match Seydouba Cisse netted the winner for Guinea with a well taken free kick that beat Uganda’s goalkeeper Salim Salim Magoola.

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