Former Champions Qualify for Nations Cup

Former African champions, Egypt, Ghana and Ivory Coast have qualified for next year's Nations Cup finals in Mali after impressive wins in their various groups on Sunday.

Ghana came from behind to beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in Harare; Ivory Coast also won 3-0 in Tripoli against Libya , while Egypt beat Sudan 3-2 to go through.

Liberia also booked their place in the Nations Cup for the second time in their history after drawing 1-1 with South Africa in Monrovia.

South Africa took the lead in the 39th minute through Andrew Rubutla. Three minutes into the second-half, Oliver Makor scored from the penalty spot to level for the hosts.

South Africa had already secured a place at the finals, while a draw was what the Liberians needed to guarantee themselves a ticket to Mali.

The other teams in the same group, Congo and Mauritius drew 0-0 in Brazzaville, but the result could no way affect the outcome of Group two.

Also finishing 0-0 was Lesotho and Congo Democratic Republic in Maseru. The two sides have a chance in the final day with Zimbabwe travelling to Kinshasa and Ghana will host Lesotho.

Ghana booked their place thanks to goals by Princeton Owusu Ansah and Isaac Boakye, who scored the winner with only a minute left to play.

Zimbabwe had opened the scores through Wilfred Mugeyi in the 15th minute.

Egypt and Ivory Coast qualify from Group seven before the last day. Both sides are due to clash in Cairo on June 17 but have saved themselves the nerve-wrecking confrontation by sealing qualification on the penultimate day.

Already through after Saturday's matches are Nigeria, Algeria, Senegal, Togo, and Morocco. Mali qualify as hosts, while Cameroon have an automatic berth as titleholders.

Five more places are to be decided on the final day (June 15,16,17) to complete the line up of 16 national teams in Mali from January 19 to February 10.