Africa Cup of Nations Qualifying Review: South Sudan make history, Liberia shock Tunisia
An Atak Lual strike to down Equatorial Guinea was enough to hand South Sudan their first competitive victory on Saturday.
South Sudan earned their first ever competitive victory with a 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Saturday.
The minnows joined the ranks of international football in 2012 and had not found the net since a 3-1 defeat to Kenya in November 2013, but Atak Lual's 52nd-minute strike was enough to seal a 1-0 win in Juba.
The momentous result lifts Lee Sung-Je's side to second place in Group C ahead of Benin’s clash with Mali on Sunday.
There was similar joy for Liberia, who shocked Group A rivals Tunisia with a 1-0 victory despite being without first-choice goalkeeper Nathaniel Sherman, who reportedly suffered a serious eye injury after inadvertently barging into a glass door at the team's hotel.
But a Francis Forkey Doe strike in the 11th minute proved decisive, in the first international match to be held in Monrovia since the lifting of the Ebola ban.
Ghana, runners-up to the Ivory Coast in 2015, look well-placed for another finals berth after preserving their 100 per cent record in Group H by edging to a 1-0 win over Rwanda thanks to Mubarak Wakaso's superb 88th-minute free-kick.
Morocco were more emphatic in securing their second win in Group F, brushing aside Sao Tome and Principe 3-0.
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In Group K, Senegal took advantage of Burundi's 2-0 win over Niger with 2-0 win away to Namibia, courtesy of goals from Premier League stars Cheikhou Kouyate and Sadio Mane – a win that leaves them three points clear at the top.
Meanwhile, three-time champions Nigeria were held to a disappointing 0-0 draw at Tanzania and could be knocked off the top of Group G should Egypt beat Chad on Sunday, while South Africa's difficulties in Group M continued with a 3-1 defeat to Mauritania.
A solitary 25th-minute strike from Tonny Mawejje saw Uganda rise to the top of group D with a 1-0 win away to Comoros, overtaking Burkina Faso, who slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Botswana.
Elsewhere, 10-man Seychelles lifted themselves off the bottom of Group J with a 1-1 draw to Ethiopia, while Group E remains wide open after Congo's 1-1 draw with Guinea Bissau.