DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AP) — Borussia Dortmund star Serhou Guirassy will miss the Africa Cup of Nations next year after Tanzania upset Guinea 1-0 to qualify at the visitors’ expense on Tuesday.
Botswana and Mozambique grabbed the last qualification places to complete the lineup for the 24-team tournament in Morocco.
Stanley Ratifo scored early in the second half to give Mozambique a 2-1 win in Guinea-Bissau, ending the home team’s hopes of securing the runner-up spot behind Group I winner Mali, which ended its campaign with a 6-0 rout of last-place Eswatini.
Botswana ended its 12-year wait for its second Africa Cup appearance with a 1-1 draw against already-qualified Egypt. Omaatla Kebatho’s early goal in Cairo was enough for Botswana to finish runner-up in Group C, one point ahead of Mauritania, which beat Cape Verde 1-0 in the other group game.
Seven-time champion Egypt finished with 14 points from six games, followed by Botswana on eight, Mauritania on seven and Cape Verde with four.
Guinea needed just a point its final Group H game in Tanzania, but the visitors appeared to play for the draw and were caught out in the 61st minute when Simon Msuva scored with a diving header to set off unbridled celebrations among the home fans.
It lifted Tanzania into second place — one point ahead of Guinea — to qualify as runner-up behind group winner Congo. It’s just the fourth time the Taifa Stars have qualified for the tournament.
Four-time champion Ghana failed to qualify for the first time since 2004. The Black Stars’ campaign ended Monday with a 2-1 loss at home to Niger. It left the team bottom with no wins in Group F.
Sudan qualified Monday with a 0-0 draw against group winner Angola, which had secured qualification long before.
Benin also secured qualification Monday with a 0-0 draw in Libya to finish runner-up behind group winner Nigeria, which was already qualified before losing its final group game 2-1 at home to Rwanda.
Comoros, Zambia, Mali, and Zimbabwe secured their qualification Friday, while Nigeria, Tunisia, South Africa, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon clinched their spots on Thursday.
Host nation Morocco, defending champion Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Algeria, Congo, Cameroon, Senegal and Angola were already qualified before the penultimate round of qualifiers.
Morocco will host the Africa Cup from Dec. 21, 2025 to Jan. 18, 2026.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
The Associated Press
