Algeria secured their place in the knockout stage of the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday, becoming the third team to do so after Egypt and Nigeria.
They achieved this feat by narrowly defeating Burkina Faso 1-0 in Rabat, courtesy of a Riyad Mahrez penalty. Meanwhile, defending champions Ivory Coast could not join them, drawing 1-1 with Cameroon in an exciting encounter in Marrakesh.
Elsewhere, Mozambique celebrated their first AFCON victory in 39 years by defeating Gabon 3-2. Sudan revived their hopes of reaching the last 16 with a 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea in Casablanca.
Captain Mahrez converted a spot-kick midway through the first half, securing a hard-fought victory for Algeria against a resolute Burkina Faso side. The decisive penalty was awarded after Manchester City’s Rayan Ait-Nouri was brought down.
Mahrez confidently dispatched his 23rd-minute penalty, adding to his tally of three goals in this AFCON. The former Leicester City and Manchester City winger now holds the Algerian record with nine goals in the tournament.
With six points from two Group E matches and no goals conceded, Algeria, champions in 1990 and 2019, are living up to their status as pre-tournament favourites. Among the 18,522 spectators was France legend Zinedine Zidane, who watched his son Luca play in goal for the Desert Foxes.
“We expected a very tough match. We fought very hard, and the most important thing is that we won. Now we are qualified, and that was the main goal,” said Algeria forward Ibrahim Maza, who was named man of the match.
Sudan boosted their qualification chances from the same group after a Saul Coco own goal secured a scrappy victory over Equatorial Guinea. Unfortunate Torino centre-back Coco deflected the ball into his own net in the 74th minute as his teammate Luis Asue tried to clear a free-kick.
Sudan, who hosted and won the 1970 AFCON, recorded just their second victory in 18 matches across six tournament appearances since then. The team is competing in Morocco despite ongoing civil conflict in Sudan between the army and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023.
In Group F, Manchester United winger Amad Diallo scored for defending champions Ivory Coast in their draw with Cameroon, leaving both teams sharing the top spot. Diallo netted his second AFCON goal in the 51st minute, having scored the winner against Mozambique four days earlier.
However, Cameroon equalised five minutes later when a shot from Junior Tchamadeu deflected off Ghislain Konan. Ivory Coast and Cameroon each have four points, one more than Mozambique.
Mozambique ended a long wait for an AFCON victory by defeating Gabon in a thrilling match in Agadir. The Mambas, who had not won in 16 previous AFCON matches since their debut in 1986, finally triumphed.
“Today was a historic day. We overcame many difficulties to achieve something unexpected,” said Mozambique coach Chiquinho Conde. “Even our most optimistic fans would not have imagined a victory over Gabon. People said Mozambique would never win a match. I had the honour of leading the national team to this victory.”
Goals from Faisal Bangal, Geny Catamo, and Diogo Calila secured the win for Mozambique, who led 2-1 at half-time. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alex Moucketou-Moussounda scored for Gabon, who twice reduced two-goal deficits before suffering their second consecutive loss after falling to Cameroon.