Morocco and Egypt suffered a defeat against Gabon (4-1) and Cape Verde (3-0). Ivory Coast secured a victory while Senegal and Mali were trapped by Burkina Faso (1-1) and Mozambique (1-1).
Ziyech, Aubameyang, Mané, Bissouma, etc., stars, goals, but mixed fortunes from this first day of the CAN 2025 qualifiers. At the Adrard stadium in Agadir, the match between Morocco and Gabon (4-1) was first a story of penalties. In the 10th minute, the Atlas Lions opened the scoring thanks to a penalty from Hakim Ziyech. The Gabonese had the opportunity to equalize six minutes later, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed a penalty against Bono.
New penalty for Morocco in the 26th minute, and Ziyech succeeds again; Morocco makes the break. Five minutes from the end of the first period, Aubameyang reduced the score with…penalty. But, it is Morocco who will have the last word by definitively widening the gap on a goal from Brahim Diaz (59th) and a goal from Ayoub El Kaabi (82nd).
Krasso sees double
In group B, where Morocco has already qualified as the host country, there will be only one place to take. After the victory of the Central African Republic over Lesotho (3-1), Gabon will have to bounce back quickly.
The other big win of the evening was Egypt’s, who were merciless against Cape Verde (3-0). For once, captain Mohamed Salah did not take part in his team’s offensive festival. The Pharaohs’ scorers were: Rami Rabia (23rd), Omar Marmoush (45+1), and Ibrahim Adel (70th).
Ivory Coast suffered in Bouaké before getting rid of a stubborn Zambia (0-2). Despite a great domination, the Elephants struggled for a long time against the Chipolopolos before being delivered by a goal from Jean-Philippe Krasso a quarter of an hour from the end. The FC Paris striker even scored twice (84th) to confirm his team’s great superiority.
Bouda petrifies Senegal
In Diamniadio, Senegal believed for a long time to secure the three points after the opening goal by its top scorer in the national team, Sadio Mané (43 goals) against Burkina (16th). But for not having been able to put themselves out of harm’s way, the Lions were punished in the last minute of stoppage time by Ousseni Bouda (90+5). A deserved equalizer and a beautiful moment of glory for the San Jose Earthquakes (United States) player.
In Mali, the electroshock expected with the arrival of the new coach Tom Sainfiet did not come against Mozambique (1-1). The Eagles even came close to a defeat on their home turf on March 26 in Bamako. The Mozambicans opened the scoring through Geny Catamo (37th) before Yves Bissouma put the score back to zero (52nd), without removing the cloud of doubt above the Eagles.
