Ivory Coast beat Gambia 2-0 to record consecutive wins in its first World Cup qualifying games. Forward Christian Kouamé and midfielder Seko Fofana scored at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Tanzania capital city Dar es Salaam, Gambia’s adopted home. The Ivorians followed their impressive 9-0 win against the Seychelles in Abidjan on Friday, Africa's record winning margin in World Cup qualifiers. (Football News)
Ivory Coast's third and last appearance at the World Cup was in 2014 in Brazil. It leads Group F with maximum points on goal difference from Gabon, which also has two wins. Meanwhile, Djibouti hosted Guinea-Bissau in Cairo and lost 1-0, four days after losing to Egypt 6-0 at the same venue.
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Liberia suffered back-to-back home defeats in its first two qualifiers after it was edged by Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in Monrovia. Liberia also lost to Malawi by the same scoreline on Friday.
The Seychelles continued its awful start to the campaign after the minnow, ranked 195 in the world, was thumped by Kenya 5-0 in Abidjan. Michael Olunga netted a brace for Kenya inside the first six minutes.
The team from the tiny Seychelles has leaked 14 goals in three days. Africa’s smallest country has one of the worst records on the continent, having last won a competitive match in 2016 against Lesotho in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
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Also, Mali was held to 1-1 at home by the Central African Republic, and Madagascar cruised to a 3-0 victory over host Chad in Morocco.
