RABAT, Morocco – Riyad Mahrez scored a first-half penalty as Algeria sealed their place in the knockout rounds of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 1-0 victory over Burkina Faso in their Group E clash in Rabat.
Algeria has six points and will win the group as they cannot be overhauled by either Burkina Faso (3 points) or Sudan (3) following the third round of fixtures in the pool due to the head-to-head rule.
The Burkinabe will meet Sudan in their final clash on Wednesday, while Algeria takes on bottom side Equatorial Guinea, who are eliminated.
Algeria was awarded a penalty just past the 20-minute mark when Rayan Ait Nouri was felled in the box by Ismahila Ouedraogo, and Mahrez made no mistake as he sent Herve Koffi in the Burkina Faso goal the wrong way.
Mahrez extended his record as Algeria’s all-time leading scorer at the Cup of Nations with his ninth goal and is also the leading scorer in this edition so far having netted twice in the opening 3-0 win over Sudan.
The Burkinabe came close to an equaliser just before halftime when Pierre Kabore’s close-range header came back off the post and Algeria were able to scramble the ball to safety.
Koffi was busy in the Burkina Faso goal and saved from Mohamed Amoura, before Ibrahim Maza forced another good stop and then scuffed a shot wide of the target.
Luca Zidane, son of France great Zinedine, showed good reactions to keep out a Lassina Traore header late on as Burkina Faso came close to an equaliser.
Mozambique 3-2 Gabon
Mozambique ended a 40-year wait for victory at the AFCON as they beat Gabon 3-2 in Agadir.
Goals from Faisal Bangal, Geny Catamo and Diogo Calila earned the southern African side a deserved victory in which they were led by 42-year-old winger Elias Pelembe. It is their first win at the continental finals since their debut in 1986 in what was their 17th game.
Gabon stayed in the contest thanks to goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alex Moucketou-Moussounda, but back-to-back defeats mean their hopes of reaching the last 16 are over.
Côte d’Ivoire 1-1 Cameroon
Reigning AFCON champions Côte d’Ivoire had to be content with a 1-1 draw with Cameroon as the Group F heavyweights battled it out in Marrakech. Manchester United’s Amad Diallo scored for a second successive game to open the scoring for the Ivorians in the 51st minute but full-back Junior Tchamadeu levelled for Cameroon with the help of a big deflection from Ghislain Konan in the 56th minute. The strike was officially recorded as an own goal.
The countries, who has eight Cup of Nations titles between them, now share the lead in Group F with four points apiece, followed by Mozambique on three. Gabon was eliminated as a result of the draw in Marrakech.
Sudan 1-0 Equatorial Guinea
Sudan boosted their chances of qualifying for the AFCON knockout stage after a Saul Coco own goal gave them a 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea.
Unlucky Torino centre-back Coco saw the ball come off him and ricochet into the net in the 74th minute in Casablanca when his teammate Luis Asue attempted to clear a Sudan free-kick.
Sudan won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1970 but this is just their second victory in 18 matches across six appearances at the tournament since then.
They lie 117th in the FIFA world rankings, compared to Equatorial Guinea in 97th.
The win leaves Kwesi Appiah’s team on three points from two games in Group E, while Equatorial Guinea have lost both matches so far.
Sudan are competing at this Afcon in Morocco despite the country having been devastated since war broke out between the army and rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023.
They will play Burkina Faso in their last group game on Wednesday and will be aiming to reach the knockout stages of the Cup of Nations for just the second time since that 1970 triumph – they got to the quarterfinals in 2012 before losing to eventual winners Zambia.
