Mozambique visited Madagascar looking to take full points and get a leg up on the other power teams in their group. At the half, it looked possible given their 1-0 lead, and up until the final minute Mozambique made the margin hold up. It’s too bad for Mozambique that the home side equalized at the buzzer for a 1-1 tie. The teams each take one point.Cape Verde knew that victories are what are necessitated from trips to Mauritius. In the rain of Curepipe, the two island nations fought it out, but Cape Verde stole a 1-0 lead after forty-five minutes thanks to a penalty conversion. The Cape Verde defense held and so did their margin for a 1-0 road victory.
Libya were given the opportunity to visit Lesotho for their third qualifying match, and they made the most of it: three points. A scoreless opening half gave way to a scoreless opening eighty minutes. Then, Libya broke through and coasted to the finish for a 1-0 in Maseru.
Zambia saw that Swaziland would be no walkover after the Swazis beat Togo in Mbabane on match day two. Zambia did not allow themselves to be defeated, but the scoreless draw in Mbabane leaves them with only one point in the three-team group. Swaziland lead the group with four, and Togo have three.
Tunisia went into Burundi needing a win in Bujumbura to keep within striking distance of Burkina Faso for the group lead. Five yellow cards show the two teams’ commitment, and the hosts drew three of those cards. A scoreless first half must have been unnerving for powerful Tunisia, but a lone goal a halfway through the second period gave them a very important 1-0 win to move within three points of Burkina Faso.
Nigeria went to Equatorial Guinea on the heels of a last-second win against Sierra Leone. Nigeria did not feel like waiting so long for its goal in this game, and Yobo scored a goal in the first five minutes to match his winner from the Sierra Leone game. Nigeria would hold the 1-0 lead for over eighty-five minutes and earned the three points.
Sénégal desperately wanted a win in Monrovia in order to stay in good position to advance to Round Two. Liberia held the Senegalese for a half, but the first ten minutes of the second period saw Sénégal grab a 2-0 lead. This should have been game over for the Liberians, but the level of the powerful Senegalese slipped enough for Liberia to notch two scores in the final twelve minutes to make the final score 2-2.
African qualifying has never been so closely contested before, and all the teams will be looking to make a good last impression on the upcoming match day four, because the final two first-round group matches are months away.
Goal scorers:
Mozambique: Dario 33
Madagascar: Mamihasindrahona 90
Cape Verde: Dadi 43 PK
Libya: Osman 81
Tunisia: Jaidi 66
Nigeria: Yobo 5
Sénégal: Diouf 47; Gueye 55
Liberia: D. Williams 78; Makor 88
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