CAPE TOWN: Senegal kept up their unbeaten start to 2026 World Cup qualification with a 1-0 win away at Mauritania on Sunday, while Tunisia also stayed top of their group despite a goalless draw away against Namibia.

Both Senegal and Tunisia were among five African representatives at the last World Cup finals in Qatar and are fancied to qualify again for the tournament being co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Habib Diallo netted in the 27th minute — heading home a long cross from Pape Matar Sarr — to put Senegal at the top of Group ‘B’ with victory in Nouakchott, despite them missing Sadio Mane and Nicolas Jackson through injury.

There was a lengthy delay in completing the match after frustrated home fans threw objects towards the pitch in the second half and proceedings were halted.

Senegal are one point above Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the group standings.

The Congolese beat Togo 1-0 in Kinshasa with Meshack Elias sixth-minute goal proving decisive.

Tunisia had been upset by Namibia at January’s Africa Cup of Nations finals and came close to losing again in the match played in Soweto, South Africa, because Namibia do not have a suitable home venue.

Namibia had the ball in the net after 14 minutes when Deon Hottos free kick was spilt by Tunisia goalkeeper Bechir Said and bundled in by centre back Charles Hambira.

But the Mauritanian referee Dahane Beida adjudged that the goalkeeper had been fouled after he spilt the ball, although television replays suggested there was minimal contact.

The draws reinforce the view of Namibia coach and former Bundesliga defender Collin Benjamin that not being able to play in Windhoek is a huge blow.

“We cannot hope to qualify for the World Cup when forced to play all 10 qualifying matches on the road,” he says.

Tunisia have a two-point lead in Group ‘H’ over Namibia with Liberia a further point back in third place.

Liberia needed a last-minute winner from Sheikh Sesay to edge 1-0 past Sao Tome e Principe in their match in Oudja, Morocco. Sao Tome have lost all four of their qualifiers in Group ‘H’.

Djibouti gained their first point in Group ‘A’ in a 1-1 draw with neighbours Ethiopia.

Both teams scored within two minutes of each other in Moroccan coastal city El Jadida in a clash of the lowest placed teams in the group, where Egypt hold a four-point lead.

Ghana-born Gabriel Dadzie put Djibouti ahead on 29 minutes with his second goal of the campaign and Minyilu Dibaba levelled.-

There are nine groups in the African preliminaries with the group winners advancing to the 2026 finals in North America. The four best runners-up will have a chance to advance through two series of playoff tournaments.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2024