The tiny island nation of the Comoros and conflict-riven Chad both unexpectedly advanced to the second round of FIFA 2018 World Cup African qualifiers with away-goal triumphs on Tuesday.
They were joined by Botswana, Burundi, Liberia, Madagascar, Namibia, Niger and Mauritania, while Djibouti failed to arrive for their tie in Swaziland.
The Comoros booked a second-round knockout tie against Ghana next month after they held Lesotho to a 1-1 draw in Maseru, netting a vital away goal after a 0-0 draw in last week’s first leg.
French-born Mohamed Mchangama scored 20 minutes from time for the Indian Ocean island nation.
Chad, where civil conflict has held back the game’s development, qualified, despite losing 2-1 to Sierra Leone in the second leg of their preliminary round tie.
Chad won last week’s first leg 1-0 and doubled the aggregate score when Leger Djimrangar netted just before halftime.
Sierra Leone scored two late goals, but needed a third to advance.
Mauritania and Niger both won 4-0 at home to dispatch South Sudan and Somalia respectively, while William Jebor scored a hat-trick as Liberia won 3-1 away in Guinea Bissau for a 4-2 aggregate triumph.
Swaziland, who were 6-0 winners away in Djibouti last week, were left twiddling their thumbs after Djibouti were stranded in Nairobi, Kenya, with visa problems.
“We are going to discuss the way forward concerning the match, but it is likely to be played within the next 48 hours,” Swaziland Football Association chief executive Frederick Mngomezulu said.
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