Young Africans SC have picked a 1-0 win away to Al Hilal to improve their chances of qualifying for the knock-out stage of the 2024/2025 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.

Stephane Aziz Ki netted the only goal after 7 minutes in the  Group A match played on Sunday at the Cheikha Ould Boïdiya Stadium in Nouakchott, Mauritania.

The Tanzanian side who lost their opening Group match 2-0 to the same Sudan team last year made sure they picked the revenge as they dominated most of the match.

Although Al Hilal have already qualified for the quarter final stage with 10 points, Young Africans SC closed the gap as they moved to 7 points, one behind second placed MC Alger from Algeria.

Young Africans SC will now need to register a win in their last Group A match against MC Alger on January 18^th, 2025 at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam. Last year Tanzanian sides Young Africans SC and Simba SC reached the quarter-final stage.

Zanzibar Heroes have defeated Kenya 1-0 to qualify for the final at the on-going Mapinduzi Cup 2025 in Pemba, Zanzibar.

The Heroes netted a late goal off a corner that Ali Khatib nodded in four minutes into added time at the Gombani Stadium on Friday night.

Moses Shumah had earlier missed a scoring opportunity for Kenya, while skipper Feisal Salum ‘Toto’ also had his effort blocked by the Harambee Stars goalkeeper.

Kenya’s Aboud Omar was shown a straight red card following an altercation with the referee after 70th minute. Zanzibar also had a player sent off later in the match. Zanzibar who finished second will now face Burkina Faso who topped the round robin log.

“We are happy that we managed to get a win against a strong Kenyan side. Now we shall focus on preparing for the final match against Burkina Faso on January 13th,” said Zanzibar’s captain Salum.

Zanzibar Heroes beat Tanzania 1-0 in the opening match of the tournament and lost by the same margin to Burkina Faso in the second match.

Table standing

                          P   W   D    L   GF  GA GD Pts

Burkina Faso   3    2    1     0     4     1     3     7

Zanzibar          3    2    0     1      2     1     1    6

Kenya              3    1    1     1     3     2     1     4

Tanzania          3     0    0     3    0    5    -5     0

Kenya’s Harambee Stars have defeated Tanzania 2-0 in their second match at Mapinduzi Cup 2025 on-going in Pemba, Zanzibar.

After a goalless first half Boniface Muchiri gave Kenya the lead after 55 minutes at the Gombani Stadium on Tuesday night. He capitalized on a Daniel Sakar cross to give Kenya the lead.

Ryan Ogam increased Kenya’s lead 12 minutes later as interim coach Francis Kimanzi’s team continued to push forward.

Tanzania had a chance to pull a goal back, but Offen Chikola with only goalkeeper to beat the Harambee Stars goalkeeper.

“I am glad that my squad was boosted with Gor Mahia players and we need to prepare for the match against Zanzibar on Friday,” said Kimanzi.

Kenya now lead the log with 4 points and a better goal difference that Burkina Faso who have the same number of point. Burkina Faso who drew 1-1 with Kenya in the opening match defeated Zanzibar Heroes 1-0 in a match played on Monday.

Table standing

                         P   W   D    L   GF  GA GD Pts

Kenya               2    1    1    0     3     1     2     4

Burkina Faso   2    1    1     0     2     1     1    4

Zanzibar          2    1    0     1     1     1     0     3

Tanzania         2     0    0    2     0     3    -3     0

Sudan Premier League reigning champions Al Hilal are the first team to book a quarter final slot in the on-going 2024/2025 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.

Coach Folrent Ibenge’s team battled to to a 1-1 draw against MC Alger in a Group A match played on Sunday at the Cheikha Ould Boïdiya Stadium in Nouakchott, Mauritania.

Sofiane Bayazid gave the Algerian side an early 5^th minute lead, but the Al Hilal fought back strongly to level matters through Jean Claued Girumugisha. The Burundian International dribbled past two defenders and unleashed a hard shot that the MC Alger goalkeeper failed to stop.

The draw saw Al Hilal kept top of the table with 10 points and qualify for the knock out stage with two more matches to spare.

“We are very happy that we managed to keep pushing despite conceding an early goal. The players have worked hard to get the draw and qualify for the next stage,” said Ibenge.

Al Hilal who are playing all their matches away from home because of the political unrest in Sudan have won three group matches and drawn once.

The Sudan side will next host Tanzania’s Young Africans SC on January 12^th, 2025, before they play the last match against TP Mazembe six days later in Lubumbashi.