The Tunisian national team inaugurated the era of its new coach, Mouin Chaabani, with a disappointing draw against its Ugandan guest, 1-1, on Thursday, at the Hamadi Al-Aqrabi Stadium in Rades, at the opening of the eighth group competitions of the 2027 African Cup of Nations qualifiers, while Libya snatched a difficult draw against Botswana, 2-2.
The Carthage Eagles team is seeking to reach the finals for the nineteenth time in its history, after participating in 18 out of 35 previous editions.
Chaabani began his international career with a squad that relied on a number of experienced people, led by Ferjani Sassi and Mohamed Ali Ben Ramadan, after their absence from Tunisia’s list in the 2026 World Cup, along with Ismail Gharbi. He also gave the opportunity to young names, most notably Adam Arous, Khalil Al-Ayari, and Rayan Al-Loumi.
It took the Tunisian team 12 minutes to open the scoring through Arous, who fired a powerful shot, taking advantage of Ayari's cross.
Ben Ramadan almost doubled the score with a header that was blocked by Ugandan goalkeeper Denis Onyango in the 24th minute, before the post denied Ismail Gharbi a second goal after a direct free kick in the 31st minute.
In the second half, Uganda succeeded in equalizing despite the course of play, when Rogers Mutu fired a powerful shot into the left corner of Ayman Dahmane's goal, taking advantage of Nathan Asiimwe's pass in the 67th minute.
Tunisia tried to regain the lead, but collided with a cohesive Ugandan defense, and the match ended in a draw.
In the same group, the Libyan team snatched a hard-fought draw from its guest, Botswana, 2-2, after ending the first half late with two goals scored by Tumisang Oribuni in the 30th and 42nd minutes. The hosts rose up in the final minutes, with Marwan Al-Hubaishi scoring in the 87th minute, before Ezzedine Al-Marimi snatched the equalizer in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
In Group Six, Mauritania achieved a major victory over the Central African Republic 3-1, thanks to goals from Aboubakari Kouata from a penalty kick in the 32nd minute, Daouda Kamara in the 69th minute, and Mamadou Diallo in the 89th minute, while Godwin Koyalibou scored the visitors’ goal. The Central African Republic completed the match with ten players from the 74th minute after Julian Kouadio was sent off for receiving a second warning.
In the third group, Frenchman Hervé Renard prevailed against Portuguese Carlos Queiroz, after he led Côte d'Ivoire at the beginning of his second term to win over Ghana 2-0. Malek Yalkoy scored the first goal in the 44th minute following a pass from Franck Kessier, before the latter added the second goal from a penalty kick in the 58th minute.
In Group Seven, Cameroon beat the Comoros 3-1, with goals scored by David Nying in the 39th minute, Brian Mbwemo in the 48th minute, and Danny Namaso in the 81st minute, while Warmed Omari scored the Comoros goal in the 51st minute. In the same group, Namibia beat Congo 1-0 with a goal by Bethuel Meozo in the 47th minute.
In Group E, the Democratic Republic of the Congo began its campaign by defeating Equatorial Guinea 2-0, with goals from Chancel Mbemba in the fourth minute and Yoan Wesa in the 72nd minute.
In the other match in the group, Zimbabwe beat Sierra Leone 3-2. Aliyi Conteh and Saliu Tarawali scored for Sierra Leone in the 7th and 27th minutes, before Zimbabwe turned the score around with a hat-trick from Marsal Munetsi in the 72nd and 89th minutes and Tawanda Chirwa in the 77th minute.
The 48 teams participating in the group stage were divided into 12 groups, each containing four teams, and the qualifiers were held in six rounds. The top two teams from each group qualify for the finals, with the exception of the groups that include the host countries Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, which automatically guaranteed qualification, as the highest-ranked team from the rest of the group qualifies alongside each of them.
