The Sunday Mail
Langton Nyakwenda
HOSTS Egypt, Sadio Mane’s Senegal, Madagascar, Morocco, Mali, Algeria, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Guinea have already booked their tickets for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations finals.
Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Tunisia and Uganda will also be part of the 32nd edition of the biennial African football show-piece.
By the time you read this, Cameroon, Burundi or Gabon will have probably also qualified for the finals.
Guinea Bissau, Mozambique and Namibia still had a chance of making it to Egypt in Group K last night, in a Group that had 2012 winners Zambia already eliminated.
South Africa can also join Nigeria on the plane to Egypt in Group E, if they can get at least a draw in Libya today.
Only Group G which features Zimbabwe, Liberia, DR Congo and Congo Brazzaville remains open for all the four participants.
Zimbabwe’s Warriors will qualify if they beat Congo Brazzaville by any score line at the National Sports Stadium this afternoon, regardless of what happens in the other group fixture between DR Congo and Liberia in Kinshasa.
The Warriors, who have eight points, one ahead of second placed Liberia and two ahead of DR Congo, can also automatically qualify with a draw against the Red Devils of Congo who have just a single win in five games and have never won away in Group G.
Zimbabwe can still qualify for Egypt even if they lose to Congo, by any score line, provided the game between DR Congo and Liberia ends in a draw.
The Warriors will remain on eight points, tied with Congo Brazzaville and Liberia with DR Congo finishing bottom with seven.
In that scenario Congo Brazzaville, who have five points, will move to eight and atop Group G because of a better head to head against the Warriors whom they held 1-1 back in Brazzaville.
But Zimbabwe will still qualify as runners up, given their better head to head over Liberia whom they beat 3-0 in Harare in 2017 before losing 0-1 in Monrovia last year.
Liberia will finish third because of an inferior head to head against both Congo Brazzaville and Zimbabwe.
To top Group G, Zimbabwe needs an outright win but they can still retain pole position in the event of a stalemate between DR Congo and Liberia.
