Mane seals Senegal finals place but Ghana face uphill battle

A 96th-minute winner from Sadio Mane earned Senegal a 1-0 win over Malawi and a place at the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco next year, but Ghana are in serious danger of missing out after a surprise loss to Sudan on Tuesday.

Senegal had 30 attempts at goal against their hosts but it took until the final seconds for Mane to seal victory with a 25-yard free-kick that curled around the wall and into the bottom corner of the net.

The 2021 winners, who recently parted ways with long-time coach Aliou Cisse, join Burkina Faso as the qualified nations from Group L in the 24-team finals with two more matches to play in the November international window.

Ghana slumped to a 2-0 loss against Sudan in neutral Libya as Ahmed Al-Tash and Mohamed Abdel Rahman scored within three minutes of each other in the second half.

Ghana look set to miss a first continental finals since 2004 having managed a paltry two points from their four games, five adrift of the qualification positions with a difficult trip to pool leaders Angola next up.

Democratic Republic of Congo qualified following a 2-0 victory in Tanzania as Meschack Elia scored a brace, his first in the 88th minute and the second deep into stoppage time. They have a full haul of 12 points from their four games.

Coach Avram Grant’s Zambia claimed an important 1-0 win over Chad to take a big step towards qualification thanks to Kennedy Musonda’s goal 20 minutes from the end.

Gabon are also on course after a 2-0 win over Lesotho in neutral Durban, with Shavy Babicka and Rody Effaghe grabbing goals in the second half.

Uganda beat South Sudan 2-1 in Juba and their qualification will be confirmed later on Tuesday if South Africa win in the Congo.

Hosts Morocco, Cameroon and Algeria are the