Eswatini stun Zimbabwe in CHAN qualifier

Zimbabwe had qualified for five of the previous seven tournaments in a competition restricted to footballers playing in their country of birth.

But Eswatini are among 22 of the 54 African football nations who have never reached the finals of a competition popularly known as the CHAN.

All the goals came in the first half with the Magagula brace supplemented by another goal from Sifiso Matse.

Neither country has an international-standard stadium so Zimbabwe hosted the first round, first leg in Botswana city Francistown. Eswatini will host the return match in South African city Mbombela.

South Sudan upset Kenya 2-0 in a Juba showdown between teams who have never made it to the finals of a tournament last staged in 2023 and won by Senegal in Algeria.

Ezbon Malish and Yohanna Paulino scored for the home nation in the second half, confirming the steady improvement of South Sudan at international level.

Kenya are guaranteed a place among the 19 finalists as co-hosts, but opted to participate in qualifying to gain competitive match practice.

Another unexpected result came in Kigali as minnows Djibouti, who ceded home advantage to Rwanda, triumphed 1-0 through a George Dadzie goal on 79 minutes.

Liberia, Lesotho, Sudan and Togo won other first legs, with the return fixtures set for November 1-3.

Eritrea and cash-strapped Somalia withdrew, giving walkovers into the final qualifying round during December to Burundi and Ethiopia.

Set to play a competitive international for the first time since 2019, Eritrea gave no reason for pulling out.

When Eritrean club and national teams travelled to other African countries previously, some players sought political asylum, citing political repression and lengthy military conscription.

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