South Africa Claim Finals Place

Line-up for Nations Cup in Egypt now complete

South Africa were the last country to book a place at this summer’s African Nations Cup finals, holding on to win 2-1 “away” to Libya in Tunisia and salvage what has been a disappointing decade of results since they hosted the World Cup in 2010. Going into the final weekend of Nations Cup qualifiers at the end of March there were 10 places yet to be filled in the 24-team field, with 21 countries still in with a chance – and a fair number of them looking to qualify for the first time.

In the end, tiny Burundi made it to the finals but Comoros Islands, Gambia and Lesotho did not.

Tanzania gained their place in emphatic fashion and will be competing in the finals for only the second time – and some 39 years since their debut.

Angola, Benin, Cameroon, DR Congo and Zimbabwe were among the expected qualifiers.

Most dramatic was the progress of Namibia who lost 4-1 away to Zambia in their last group game but still managed to qualify when Mozambique conceded an equaliser deep in stoppage time in their match against Guinea-Bissau.

Needing a victory for qualification, Mozambique fell behind early on in Bissau but rallied to equalise in the second half through Stanley Ratifio, who plays for CFR Pforzheim in the fifth tier of German football. Then, in the last minute of regulation time, they went ahead through substitute Nelson.