2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) hosts, Morocco, hammered Lesotho 7-0 at the Honneur Stadium in Oujda on Monday night to wrap up their qualifying campaign in grand style, Afrosport reports.
The Atlas Lions, who had booked their spot in the AFCON as tournament hosts before the qualifiers, showed why they are rated as one of the favourites with an emphatic scoreline against the tiny island nation.
Real Madrid midfielder Brahim Diaz scored a first-half hat-trick, Soufiane Rahimi bagged a brace, while Youssef En-Nesyri and Ismael Saibari got one apiece for Walid Regragui’s side.
The Atlas Lions topped Group B of the AFCON 2025 qualifiers with 18 points, winning six out of a possible six with a goal difference of plus 24.
In the other Group B fixture, Gabon defeated the Central African Republic 1-0 courtesy of a 74th penalty from Guelor Kanga to finish second with 10 points.
Elsewhere, Ghana ended their AFCON 2025 qualifying series with a 2-1 home defeat to the Niger Republic, while Angola forced Sudan to a goalless draw at Omdurman.
The result meant both Angola and Sudan sealed their spot in next year’s tournament as Group F representatives, while Niger and Ghana finished third and fourth, respectively.
That’s all from #AFCONQ2025 for the day. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/oYQcQfWIMf
— CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) November 18, 2024
In Group A, Tunisia suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to the Gambia, with Abdoulie Ceesay scoring the only goal. However, the Carthage Eagles still secured a berth in Morocco 2025 as runners-up, while Comoros pipped Madagascar 1-0 to top Group A.
In Group L, Malawi thrashed already qualified Burkina Faso 3-0, but the result was not enough to see them through to AFCON 2025, with the Burkinabes having to settle for second place behind Senegal, who will take on Burundi in Tuesday’s fixture.
In Group D, Libya was forced to a goalless draw by visiting Benin Republic, and the result ensured the Cheetahs, led by Gernot Rohr, finished second with eight points, three behind Nigeria’s Super Eagles, who lost at home to Rwanda.
