Tunisia draws with Botswana 2-2 in the 2027 African Nations qualifiers, Al-Ahly extends El-Shenawy’s contract, and Palestine beats Tajikistan 4-2

The Tunisia national team continued the disappointing results of its fans with a 2-2 draw with its guest, Botswana, on Monday evening, in the second round of Group H of the qualifiers for the 2027 African Cup of Nations.

The visitors took the lead with a goal by Thataiaun Kejamanyan in the 37th minute of the match held at the Hamadi Al-Aqrabi Stadium in Rades, and the Carthage Eagles responded with two goals by Hazem Mestouri in the 44th and 49th minutes.

The visitors snatched the equalizing point with a goal by Lebogang Ditseli in the 60th minute.

With this result, Tunisia and Botswana share the lead in Group Eight “temporarily” with two points, awaiting the result of the match between Libya and Uganda, on Tuesday evening, which are equal on one point.

Under the leadership of its new technical director, Moin Chaabani, the Tunisia national team failed in the first two rounds at home after being content with a 1-1 draw with Uganda in the first round, while its counterpart Botswana held on for the second time in Arab stadiums after a 2-2 draw with Libya in Tripoli in the first round.

The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations will be jointly organized by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from June 19 to July 17, 2027.

The Egyptian Al-Ahly club announced, on Monday, the extension of the contract of Mohamed El-Shenawy, the team’s goalkeeper and captain.

Al-Ahly indicated in a statement on its official website that El-Shenawy’s contract was extended until the end of the 2027-2028 season, during a session he held with Essam Serage El-Din, head of the contracting sector, and Wael Gomaa, director of football.

El-Shenawy expressed his great pride in the appreciation of the club and its management, and his deep gratitude for the support of Al-Ahly’s loyal fans, which he described as “the back and support” of the club and its players.

El-Shenawy added in the official statement that he and his colleagues are lucky to have these fans who always push them to double their efforts and achieve more victories and championships.

It is noteworthy that Mohamed El-Shenawy is one of Al-Ahly’s juniors, and he left the team to have other experiences with the Haras El-Hodoud, Tala’ea El-Geish and Petrojet clubs, from which he returned again to the ranks of Al-Ahly in the summer of 2016.

El-Shenawy was the main goalkeeper for Al-Ahly in recent years, but he lost his place in the last two seasons to his colleague Mostafa Schubert, who also became the first goalkeeper for the Egyptian national team since the 2026 World Cup finals.

The Palestine national team achieved a major victory over Tajikistan with a score of 4/2, on Monday, as part of a friendly international tournament held in the Chinese city of Chongqing.

The Tajik national team took the lead with an early goal scored by Sheridin Popoev after four minutes, and Asad Al-Hamalawi equalized for Palestine in the 21st minute.

Tajikistan took the lead again with a goal by Nazim Babajanov in the 24th minute, before El Hamalawi scored the second goal for himself and his country in the third minute of stoppage time, ending the first half in a 2/2 draw.

In the second half, Al-Fedayi decided the match in their favor with goals from Aladdin Hassan and Uday Al-Dabbagh in the 46th and 74th minutes.

The Palestinian national team is preparing to compete in the 2027 Asian Nations Cup, where it was drawn into Arab matches in the first group, which includes the Saudi national team, the organizer of the tournament, the Sultanate of Oman, and Kuwait.