Action returns today for the 2023 Total Energies AFCON qualifiers, with three matches billed to kick off across the continent.
South Sudan will clash with Gambia at home at the Juba Stadium at 16:00 local time.
Guinea-Bissau will face Sao Tome and Principe away at Estadio 24 de Setembro at 17:00 local time.
Egypt and Guinea will meet for their duel at the Stade de Marrakech in Morocco at 19:00 local time.
Tight contests
Guinea and Egypt are currently leveled on points at the top of Group D, and so a sensational contest is anticipated in the fight for the group leader.
Egypt is touted by bookmakers to take the game as they are in top form, having won their last five outings across all competitions.
Guinea, however, needs just one point in their final two matches to seal a third consecutive AFCON appearance, having featured in the continental tournament in 2019 and 2021, respectively.
Guinea-Bissau, who is second on the Group A leader’s board, will hope to cement their place in the competition with a comfortable win over Sao Tome and Principe, who are bottom of the table.
Sao Tome and Principe have lost all three of their group-stage games so far and may be unable to recover in time to be in contention for the main competition.
For South Sudan and Gambia, both teams have results that are in complete contrast to each other.
Gambia is second on the leaderboard with 6 points, while South Sudan sits at the bottom with 3 points.
Again, bookmakers anticipate this goes to Gambia, but nothing is cast in stone.
There will be more qualifying games all week and into the weekend.
The AFCON qualifiers will see 24 teams emerge to face off in the AFCON finals, taking place in Ivory Coast between January 13 and February 11, 2024.
TRT Africa