Spectacular goal gives Chad rare Afcon away victory

Ousman Hissein scored a spectacular added-time goal on Tuesday to seal a rare Africa Cup of Nations away win for Chad, who beat Mauritius 2-1 to reach the group qualifying stage.

Hissein gained possession near the touchline just inside the Mauritian half and watched his shot beat back-tracking goalkeeper Dorian Chiotti, who had gone to the other area for a free-kick.

Chad, whose only other Afcon away win came against Sudan in 2008, had equalised through Amine Hiver on 74 minutes after Jeremy Villeneuve gave Mauritius a late first-half lead in Saint-Pierre.

Having won the first leg 1-0 last Friday, Chad advanced 3-1 on aggregate to join fellow preliminary-round winners Eswatini, Liberia and South Sudan in the 48-team group stage.

Social media video showed jubilant Chadians running along streets in the capital, N'Djamena, celebrating the victory.

Eswatini, Liberia and South Sudan advanced despite being held at home in the return matches of a round involving the eight lowest ranked national teams in Africa who entered.

Leading 3-0 after the first encounter against Somalia, Eswatini stretched the aggregate advantage to five goals when Sabelo Ndzinisa and Bongwa Matsebula netted just after halftime.

But Mohamed Awad scored twice in two minutes during the closing stages to earn the Somalis a 2-2 draw.

Liberia were held 0-0 by Djibouti after taking a two-goal first-leg lead while South Sudan drew 0-0 with Sao Tome e Principe and squeezed through on away goals having drawn 1-1 last week.

Eswatini hosted Somalia in South Africa and South Sudan played Sao Tome in Morocco because neither country has an international-standard stadium.

Double matchdays in September, October and November will produce 23 qualifiers for the 2025 Afcon in Morocco, with a CAF official telling AFP the proposed tournament dates are July 20 to August 16-17.