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Togo move to the top of Group A
Togo go top of Group A with a 1-0 victory over Morocco in Lome.
Ghana's hopes of becoming the first African country to qualify for the 2010 World Cup remain alive after Mali held Benin to a 1-1 draw in Cotonou.
Egypt and Cameroon both won away from home to keep alive their chances of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.
Cameroon scored two quick goals to beat Gabon 2-0, in what was their first home defeat of the 2010 qualifiers.
African champions, Egypt scored in the second half to edge past Rwanda 1-0 in Kigali.
Ivory Coast moved to within one point of reaching their second successive World Cup with a crushing 5-0 win over visitors Burkina Faso.
The victory does make the Elephants the first side to qualify for next year's Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.
Malawi earned their first points of the final stage of 2010 qualifying with a 2-1 win over visitors Guinea, but both sides hopes of reaching the World Cup are over.
Nigeria and Tunisia go head-to-head for the lead in Group B.
The five group winners will qualify for the World Cup in South Africa while the top three in each group advance to the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.
Below is a full round-up of Saturday's results and a look ahead to Sunday's matches.
GROUP A
Cameroon scored two goals in two minutes to secure a 2-0 win over Gabon in Libreville.
Achille Emana, who plays for Spanish second division side Real Betis, scored the opening goal after 66 minutes.
Samuel Eto'o, who is the new Indomitable Lions captain, made sure of the win moments later.
The goals were Cameroon's first in the final stage of qualifying and takes them to four points from three games, two behind Gabon.
The two sides meet again on 9 September in Yaounde.
The game went ahead in Libreville despite a backdrop of post-election violence in some parts of Gabon.
Ali Bongo, winner of the presidential election that triggered the civil unrest, was among the 20,000 crowd in a national stadium named after his late father and former ruler Omar Bongo.
The match was due to have been played in June but was postponed because of the funeral of Omar Bongo.
Moustapha Salifou struck early in the first half to give Togo a 1-0 lead over Morocco in Lome.
There were no other goals in that game, so Togo go top of Group A with seven points.
Morocco's Nations Cup hopes are looking very precarious as they remain stranded at the bottom of the group with only two points
GROUP B
There is a top of the table clash in Abuja as Nigeria play host to Tunisia on Sunday.
Nigeria are currently two points behind the Carthage Eagles, but striker John Utaka told the BBC's African sports programme Fast Track that they can overhaul their rivals.
"Playing on our home soil, gives us an opportunity," he said.
"I strongly believe we will beat them; we are not underestimating anybody, but when you are playing at home you know what the fans of Nigeria are like - they expect you to win."
Mozambique edged out Kenya 1-0 in Maputo on Sunday to keep alive the Mambas slim hopes of qualifying for the World Cup.
Tico-Tico scored the only goal of the game in the 67th minute and that win sees Mozambique leapfrog over Kenya into third place in the group.
But Mozambique have a tough game next up in October when they travel to play Nigeria.
GROUP C
Reigning African champions Egypt got their qualifying campaign back on track with a 1-0 win in Rwanda.
Al Ahly midfielder Ahmed Hassan, who had come on as a substitute, hammered an Ahmed Fathi pass into the net on 68 minutes before a near-capacity crowd at the 35,000-seat Amahoro Stadium in the Rwandan capital.
The win gives Egypt seven points from four matches and takes them level with Algeria for the time being.
Algeria can move three points clear of Egypt if they can beat Zambia in Blida in the final game of the weekend on Sunday evening.
GROUP D
Ghana's Black Stars will secure a place at their second successive World Cup if they can beat visitors Sudan this weekend, after Mali and Benin drew 1-1 in Cotonou.
Ghana reached the 2006 tournament in Germany under Ratomir Dujkovic and another Serb coach, Milovan Rajevac, looks set to repeat the feat.
After labouring to a 1-0 home win over Benin, a Michael Essien-inspired Ghana travelled to Mali and Sudan and returned with impressive 2-0 triumphs.
Another win over Sudan would lift Ghana to a maximum 12 points from four games.
Expectation is high in Ghana and some of the players are less comfortable playing in Accra, rather than their traditional home of Kumasi.
Striker Asamoah Gyan came under particular criticism during the Nations Cup in 2008, but he told BBC Fast Track that pressure is something all players have to live with.
"It's our dream to go to the World Cup - but what matters is the three points on Sunday," he said.
"Some times you hear criticism from the crowd because they are expecting more from you and maybe they don't see it.
"People can criticise you but you have to be calm about it."
Mali looked to have spoilt Ghana's World Cup celebration party when Mamadou Samassa scored on his debut in the 72nd minute.
Samassa is a former French youth international who was only cleared to play for Mali three days ago.
Benin's Mohammed Aoudou destroyed Mali's hopes of an away victory when he fired home an equaliser just three minutes from time to earn the hosts a 1-1 draw.
So Mali remains in second place in Group D with five points, while Benin is third with four.
GROUP E
The Ivory Coast's 5-0 win over Burkina Faso in Abidjan means the Elephants are just one point away from qualifying for their second successive World Cup.
The comprehensive win does mean that the Ivory Coast have qualified for the Nations Cup in Angola next year.
The first goal was an own goal from the Portugal-based Saidou Panandetiguiri after just 12 minutes.
Captain Didier Drogba scored twice in the second half with Barcelona's Yaya Toure and Turkey-based Abdel Kader Keita also finding the target to secure the emphatic win.
Malawi came from behind to beat visitors Guinea 2-1 to grab their first points of the final qualifying stage.
Oumar Kalabane scored for the Syli Nationale in the 37th minute after Malawi failed to deal with a corner.
Malawi coach Kinnah Phirri then made what proved to be an inspired substitution at half time bringing on Chiukepo Msowoya to replace David Banda.
With virtually his first touch of the ball Msowoya equalised for the Flames just two minutes into the second half as his low, hard shot beat Kemoko Camara in the Guinea goal.
Msowoya, who plays his club football in Mozambique, then headed home the winner from an in-swinging corner from Joseph Kamwendo in the 58th minute.
Malawi captain Peter Mponda was happy with the win.
"This is an exciting win as it shows we are still in contention for Angola," he said.
The results mean that neither Malawi nor Guinea can qualify for the World Cup but both are still battling for a place at the Nations Cup.
The Ivory Coast need just a single point from their last two games to earn a spot at the World Cup.
Burkina Faso's only hope is for them to win their last two qualifiers and for the Ivory Coast to lose their last two, even then the Stallions need big wins in order to overhaul the Elephants huge goal difference of plus 12.
source: bbc
Posted on Sunday 6th September 2009
