Algeria, Cameroon close to AFCON 2017 News

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Algeria, Cameroon close to AFCON 2017

By Daily Sports on June 2, 2016

Two more teams can book their places at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Thursday and Friday's qualifiers.

Algeria need a just draw in Seychelles on Thursday while Cameroon require a win in Mauritania the next day to qualify for Gabon.

Tunisia will lose the chance of winning Group A if Djibouti beat them on Friday and Liberia beat Togo on Sunday.

The other game on Friday is Libya playing Morocco, who have already qualified for the finals in Gabon.

Twenty more matches over the weekend complete the penultimate round of qualifiers.

The group winners and the best two runners-up will qualify for the finals.

Before the upcoming qualifiers, Benin are the best second-placed side with eight points, while Tunisia, Mauritania, Uganda, Central African Republic all have seven.

Since their last Group J qualifiers against Ethiopia in March, Algeria have parted company with French coach Christian Gourcuff.

A 7-1 win and 3-3 draw in those matches against Ethiopia leaves the Desert Foxes five points clear at the top of their group and with a better head-to-head record over the Walya Antelopes.

He has been replaced with two interim coaches Yazid Mansouri and Nabil Neghiz, who are wary of playing on an artificial pitch in Seychelles.

The duo will also be aware that Seychelles are unbeaten at home in the qualifiers so far, after a draw with Ethiopia and win over Lesotho.

Algeria will also be without several key players, with Sporting Lisbon's Islam Slimani suspended while English Premier League champion Riyad Mahrez and Porto's Yacine Brahimi are both injured.

Instead they will look to an attacking trio of Lyon's Rachid Ghezzal, Sofiane Feghouli of Valencia and El Arabi Soudani, who has scored four goals in the campaign so far.

Belgium's Footballer of the Year Sofiane Hanni, who plays for Anderlecht, is set to make his debut for Algeria having played for France at youth level.

A loss for Seychelles will mean they are unable to win the group and leave them hoping several other results go their way this weekend to have any chance of a best second-placed spot.

On Friday, Cameroon could also join Morocco and hosts Gabon at the 2017 Nations Cup if they can win in Mauritania.

The Indomitable Lions are currently one point ahead of their opponents after the first four matches of the campaign.

Cameroon coach Hugo Broos left captain Stephane Mbia out of his squad for the qualifier and Tuesday's friendly 3-2 loss to France.

Forward Benjamin Moukandjo and Nicolas Nkoulou both missed the France game with injuries too.

Tunisia also play on Friday knowing they could lose the chance of winning Group A if they lose in Djibouti and then Liberia secure a win over Togo on Sunday.

In that scenario Liberia would earn themselves a placey at the Nations Cup finals for the first time since 2002.

Djibouti have already been eliminated and have yet to win a single point from their opening four matches, scoring just once and conceding 16 goals.

Friday's other match sees Morocco take on Libya in Tunisia after the game was moved due to the ongoing problems in Libya.

Morocco have already secured their place in the finals after a 1-0 win away and a 2-0 victory at home over Cape Verde in March maintained their 100 per cent winning record in the qualifiers.

Libya meanwhile realistically need a win to keep alive any hope they have of grabbing second spot in Group F.

Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers:

Thursday: Friday:

Grp A - Djibouti v Tunisia Grp J - Seychelles v Algeria

Grp M - Mauritania v Cameroon

Grp F – Libya vs Morocco

•With reference to bbc.com

Source Daily Sports

Posted June 2, 2016