Uganda humiliated by minnows Niger who are  84 places down on Fifa ranking

2010 World/Africa Cup qualifiers

Weekend results

Mauritania 0-1 Rwanda
Niger        3-1 Uganda
Kenya       1-0 Namibia
Mauritius   1-4 Tanzania
Chad        2-0 Sudan

As far as matters concerning the 2010 World/Africa Cup qualifiers in East and Central Africa are concerned, Rwanda’s Amavubi Stars are on top of issues.

Fifa’s top ranked East African country at 85 took leadership of Group Eight of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers thanks to a 1-0 away win over Mauritania on Saturday.

Amavubi Stars who have lost once and won four took summit of Group Eight with 12 points thanks to Bobo Bola 81st header-winner in Nouakchott on Saturday.

Morocco dropped to second position on nine points as their game with Ethiopia was postponed after the world’s football governing body; Fifa banned Ethiopia because of the government’s interference in the sport.

Rwanda will only need a draw at home against Ethiopia on October 12 if the ban is lifted to reach the final qualifying round.

Second to Rwanda is Kenya’s Harambee Stars who moved to the top of group two with ten points on Saturday after a narrow 1-0 home win over Namibia.

Jamal Mohammed brightened Kenya’s chances of qualification after converting a 44th-minute penalty.

Guinea who was held to a goalless draw by Zimbabwe remain second in the group with eights points. 

Kenya needs just a point in their crucial away game to Guinea to clinch the group’s automatic place.

In Group One, Tanzania has no chance of booking a place in the final qualifying round despite producing an impressive display to beat Mauritius 4-1 over the weekend.

The win took the Taifa Stars to five points in as many games played and with one match to go; Tanzania can’t overtake second-placed Cape Verde who have nine points.

Cameroon has already booked a place in the final qualifying round after a 2-1 win over Cape Verde while Mauritius has one point at the bottom of the table.

In Group three, Uganda’s chances of reaching the final qualifying round suffered a humiliating blow after the Cranes lost 1-3 to minnows Niger in Niamey on Sunday.

Niger, are ranked 171 on Fifa rankings 84 places worst than Uganda, who are ranked 87. 

David Obua’s 33rd minute strike was cancelled by two second half goals from Al Hassan Yousuf and another from Daouda Jamil to condemn the Cranes to its second defeat.

Cranes’ loss also ensured Benin to finish as group three winners after the Squirrels did hard work of Angola 3-2.

Cranes are currently on seven points with Angola but Angola has a better goal difference of eight to six goals of Uganda Cranes.

In Group Nine, Burundi’s remains with slim hopes of advancing despite despite winning 2-1 over Seychelles.

Burundi lie on third spot with six points after five rounds of matches and even a win in their final qualifier against Burkina Faso may not enable them to clinch the second spot.

They remain third on the table, four points behind second-placed Tunisia with one match remaining in the group.

Burkina Faso takes lead of the group with 13 points and only needs a draw to reach the next round.

In Group Ten, Sudan lost to Chad 1-2 and remains bottom of the group with three points. Both Congo and Mali are jointly taking the lead of the group with nine points each.

Both sides meet in the final qualifier on October 12 to decide the group winner.

Twenty countries will qualify for the third round of the competition with the group winners in the 12 groups qualifying automatically.

Eight best runners-up will join the 12 group winners for the third round, which will have a total of 20 teams.

Ends