Overview
- Senegal beat Botswana 3-0 in Tangier as Bayern loanee Nicolas Jackson scored twice, with Sadio Mané starting and Cherif Ndiaye adding a late third.
- Algeria opened with a 3-0 win over Sudan featuring a clean sheet from debutant keeper Luca Zidane, a brace by Riyad Mahrez and a late goal from Ibrahim Maza after Sudan’s Salah Adil was sent off.
- Ivory Coast edged Mozambique 1-0 in Marrakech through a 49th‑minute strike from Amad Diallo, with RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande starting, suffering a collision scare and continuing.
- Burkina Faso overturned a late deficit to beat Equatorial Guinea 2-1, with Georgi Minoungou equalizing in stoppage time despite blindness in one eye and Edmond Tapsoba netting the winner deep into added time.
- The Morocco-hosted group openers set early qualification markers, with further fixtures ahead and Ivory Coast already noted as Germany’s confirmed opponent at the 2026 World Cup in Toronto on June 20.