Algeria tied 3-3 with Zambia in Lusaka in the penultimate round of Group H of the African Nations Cup qualifiers on Thursday evening, where Libya suffered a heavy loss 5-2 against its neighbor Tunisia in its first match at home after an absence of 7 years.
Algeria, the defending champion who secured qualification for next year's edition in Cameroon, last round, advanced with a double in the first 25 minutes signed by Rachid Ghazal and Islam Soleimani.
Ghazal put the visitors ahead in the 18th minute, after a wonderful job by Soleimani, who added the second goal in the 25th minute.
Islam Slimani fled and Rashid Ghazal opens the scoring for the Algerian national team 🇩🇿⚽
What do you think of this goal?
🤔 # Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers |
# Algeria pic.twitter.com/dwl8sHruYn
- beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) March 25, 2021
Batson Dhaka reduced the lead for Zambia in the 34th minute with a penalty kick, and after seven minutes of resuming play after the break, Clatus Chama equalized for Zambia with a header after a cross pass from a corner kick.
But Soleimani scored his second and third personal goal for Algeria three minutes later, after a superb pass from his colleague Baghdad Bounjah, the Qatari Al-Sadd striker.
Dhaka scored Zambia's third goal and his second from a penalty kick in the 80th minute, amid protests from Algerian players.
Algeria, which has 11 points from five games in the lead, host Botswana next Monday, while Zimbabwe, second-placed with eight points, qualified for the finals after winning 1-0 away to Botswana today.
Botswana comes third with four points, wrapping up the goal difference from Zambia.
In another match, Libya suffered a big loss 5-2 against its neighbor Tunisia in its first match on its soil after an absence of 7 years to fail to reach the African Nations Cup finals in Cameroon 2022.
Tunisia had secured its early rise to the finals, while Libya's hopes evaporated after Equatorial Guinea's 1-0 victory over Tanzania and clinched the second qualifying card from Group Ten.
Tunisia raised its score to 13 points at the top of the group, while Equatorial Guinea ranks second with nine points, Tanzania comes third with four points, while Libya ranks bottom with three points before a round of the end of the qualifiers.
Moayad Al-Lafi opened the scoring for the home team with a header after his teammate Mohamed Al-Tarhouni's cross in the 22nd minute, but Elias El-Skhiry leveled Tunisia with a powerful shot from the edge of the area in the 39th minute.
🇹🇳 # Tunisia 5⃣ - # Libya 2⃣ 🇱🇾
Do you think that Benslimane's goal is the most beautiful for the Tunisian national team tonight?
🤔⚽️
Share your opinion 👇📝 # African Nations Cup Qualifiers | # Libya_Tunisia pic.twitter.com/e9sVYdMZOg
- beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) March 25, 2021
Substitute striker Seif Eddine Jaziri took the lead in Tunisia in the 48th minute, before right-handed defender Mohamed Darger added to the score by scoring the third goal after three minutes.
The Libyan national team, which was seeking to revive its meager chances of qualifying, pressed Tunisia's defense and succeeded in reducing the difference through Lafi, the Moroccan Wydad Casablanca player, in the 55th minute.
At a time when the home team tried to grab a draw, it received a painful blow when substitute Anis Benslimane scored the fourth goal for Tunisia with a powerful shot in the far corner from the goalkeeper.
Al-Jaziri, the Egyptian Zamalek player, returned to score his second personal goal and completed the Tunisian five-a-side in the third minute of stoppage time.
Tunisia will participate for the twentieth time in its history in the African Nations Cup finals, but it won the title only once in its history when it hosted the tournament on its home soil in 2004.