Afcon roundup: Algeria out after Mauritania serve up yet another shock
Mauritania served up another shock result at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations to dump the 2019 winners Algeria out of the tournament with a 1-0 victory at the Stade de la Paix on Tuesday and seal a historic place in the last 16.
Mauritania had never led in any of their previous eight matches at the continental finals, let alone won a game, but a first-half goal from Yali Dellahi was enough to send Algeria packing in a second successive embarrassing early exit for the coach Djamel Belmadi’s side after a similar failure in 2021.
Algeria look a shadow of the side that lifted the trophy in Egypt in 2019. They dropped the captain, Riyad Mahrez, to the bench but brought him on at half-time in a desperate bid to reverse their fortunes which proved fruitless in the end. Mauritania will be among the four best third-placed sides and earn a knockout spot.
Angola secured top spot in Group D after the striker Mabululu’s first-half header and a stoppage-time finish from Zini secured a 2-0 victory against Burkina Faso.
Mabululu’s 36th-minute header at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium opened the scoring and Zini scored as he reacted quickest after Jérémie Bela’s effort at the start of stoppage time had been parried by the Burkina goalkeeper Herve Koffi. Angola finished on seven points with Burkina Faso second on four points.
In Group C Cameroon fought back with two goals in the closing stages to edge The Gambia 3-2 in a thrilling encounter and advance after being minutes from elimination.
The defender Christopher Wooh scored a dramatic stoppage-time winner to put the Indomitable Lions second in the group behind Senegal. They finished ahead of Guinea on goals scored while The Gambia were eliminated after a third successive defeat.
Cameroon, who dropped the goalkeeper André Onana, had to claw their way back in a game of relentless attack and end-to-end action to keep alive their hopes after falling 2-1 behind with only five minutes left.
Wooh headed home a corner in a riveting fightback in the first minute of stoppage time as all five goals came in an action-filled second half.
The Gambia had dominated the first-half exchanges despite being 80 places below their much-vaunted opponents in the Fifa rankings but Cameroon came out strongly after the break with Georges-Kevin Nkoudou rattling the crossbar in the 50th minute and then setting up the opening goal six minutes later for Karl Toko Ekambi.
But a sudden burst of attack from The Gambia had the Cameroon defence looking jittery and it was no surprise when Ablie Jallow equalised in the 72nd minute with a clever volley as he ghosted late into the box.
The Gambia swept into the lead in the 85th minute through the substitute Ebrima Colley after a clever one-two with Assan Ceesay.
Cameroon needed to score twice in the remaining time and were level when James Gomez steered the ball into his own net as he attempted to clear. Wooh then grabbed the winner in a stunning conclusion to set up a last-16 meeting with Nigeria in Abidjan on Saturday.
Abdoulaye Seck and Iliman Ndiaye scored second-half goals as the defending champions Senegal beat Guinea 2-0 in Yamoussoukro to make it three wins from three in Group C, as both teams advanced to the last 16.
Senegal top the pool with nine points, followed by Cameroon on four as they edged Guinea on goals scored. The latter will also advance as one of the best third-placed teams.
Senegal, who have been finalists in the past two editions and won in 2021, had their coach Aliou Cissé back in the dugout after he spent the night in hospital with an infection following their victory against Cameroon in their previous match.