Tunisia left it late however secured an important 2-0 win over a cussed Malawi aspect to tighten their grip on the high of Group H within the 2026 FIFA World Cup African qualifiers, whereas Ethiopia revived their marketing campaign in emphatic trend with a surprising 6-1 rout of Djibouti in Group A.
Seifeddine Jaziri got here off the bench to interrupt Malawi’s resistance with a headed aim within the 86th minute, earlier than Elias Achouri sealed the victory with a stoppage-time penalty.
The Carthage Eagles have been pissed off for a lot of the match by a well-drilled Malawi defence and wanted late interventions to safe all three factors.
Jaziri, launched within the 78th minute by Tunisia head coach, Sami Trabelsi, took simply eight minutes to justify his choice, connecting with a cross to beat goalkeeper William Thole, who had been excellent all through the competition.
Achouri’s penalty within the 92nd minute put the end result past doubt after Malawi, determined to rescue a degree, conceded a foul within the field.
There was nonetheless late drama as Malawi have been awarded a penalty deep into added time, however Aymen Dahmen guessed accurately to disclaim Richard Mbulu from the spot.
The end result sees Tunisia transfer to 13 factors from 5 matches, 4 forward of second-placed, Namibia, who have been held to a 1-1 draw by Equatorial Guinea earlier within the day.
In Group A, Ethiopia served up some of the dominant performances of the qualifiers thus far, thrashing Djibouti 6-1 to register their first win of the marketing campaign in spectacular model.
Hat-tricks from Bereka Desta and Abubeker Nassir lit up the Stade
Ben M’Hamed El Abdi in El Jadida, Morocco, because the Walya Antelopes turned on the model towards a hapless Djibouti defence.
Desta opened the scoring within the nineteenth minute and added additional strikes within the 52nd and seventieth minutes.
Nassir wasn’t to be outdone, netting within the thirty fourth, thirty seventh, and 58th minutes to finish a devastating show of attacking soccer.
Djibouti, now with only a single level from six video games, had a short second of hope when Samuel Akinbinu pulled a aim again within the 51st minute.
However that proved to be a mere comfort as Ethiopia ran riot to climb to fourth place within the group standings, though they continue to be seven factors behind leaders Egypt, who’ve a sport in hand.
It was an announcement win from Mesay Teferi’s aspect, who had struggled in earlier fixtures however will now hope to hold momentum into the ultimate stretch of qualifying.
With two matchdays remaining, each Tunisia and Ethiopia have given their followers renewed hope the previous eyeing a return to the World Cup, and the latter displaying they could but have a say in Group A’s ultimate final result. —CAF
