By Sports Correspondent
Nigeria suffered one of the biggest shocks of the opening rounds of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers after Guinea-Bissau handed the Super Eagles a heavy 3-0 defeat in Bissau on Tuesday.
The result was a major setback for Nigeria, who had opened their Group L campaign with a 2-1 comeback victory over Madagascar.
Guinea-Bissau produced a commanding performance at the 24 de Setembro National Stadium to move top of the group with six points from two matches.
Nigeria remain on three points, while Madagascar and Tanzania shared a 1-1 draw in the other Group L match.
With Tanzania already assured of a place at the 2027 finals as one of the co-hosts, only one team from the remaining trio of Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria and Madagascar can claim the group’s qualifying place.
The defeat was among several surprise results involving Africa’s established football nations on Tuesday.
Ghana suffered another damaging result, surrendering a two-goal lead to lose 4-2 to The Gambia in Group C.
The Gambia now have six points from two matches, while Ghana are still without a point after consecutive defeats.
Elsewhere, Egypt responded emphatically to their opening 0-0 draw against Angola by hammering South Sudan 5-0 in Juba.
Mostafa Zico put the Pharaohs ahead in the 36th minute before Omar Marmoush scored twice in the second half. Ibrahim Adel and substitute Hamza Abdelkarim also found the net as the seven-time African champions moved to four points in Group B.
Morocco maintained their perfect start with a 2-0 victory over Lesotho.
Brahim Diaz broke the deadlock shortly before half-time before Azzedine Ounahi added a second in the 82nd minute. The result gave Morocco six points from two matches, having also defeated Gabon 2-0 in their opening fixture.
Senegal, meanwhile, secured their first victory under new coach Patrick Vieira with a 1-0 win away to Ethiopia.
Ibrahim Mbaye scored in the 11th minute after being set up by Nicolas Jackson, and the Teranga Lions held on to collect three points. Senegal now have four points from their opening two Group J matches following their 1-1 draw with Mozambique last week.
Algeria were forced to settle for a point after recovering from two goals down to draw 2-2 away to Burundi.
The Desert Foxes remain unbeaten and have four points from two matches following their opening 3-1 victory over Zambia.
Mozambique also impressed, thrashing Sudan 4-1 to move to four points in Group J. Witi opened the scoring before Chamito struck twice and Guima added another, with Sudan’s late penalty providing only consolation.
Rwanda continued their perfect start with a 2-1 comeback victory away to Cape Verde, while Uganda edged Libya 1-0 and Zambia recovered from their opening defeat to beat Togo 2-0.
The 2027 AFCON finals will be staged jointly by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, with the qualifying group stage featuring 48 nations divided into 12 groups. The top non-host nation in each group containing a co-host will qualify for the finals.
