2027 AFCON Qualifiers: DR Congo defeat Zimbabwe as Equatorial Guinea and Burkina Faso also post wins

The Democratic Republic of Congo made it two wins from two in their TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations PAMOJA 2027 qualifying group when they defeated Zimbabwe 2-1 in Harare on Monday.

There were also wins for Equatorial Guinea and Burkina Faso as the groups began to take shape on Matchday 2 of the qualification campaign on the road to the finals in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, which will be staged from 19 June to 17 July next year.

The Congolese profited from two first-half goals as Yoane Wissa continued his excellent scoring form for the national side with a goal on 30 minutes.

Zimbabwe goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze failed to collect a cross and the ball fell at the feet of Wissa, who turned it home.

Wissa then turned provider when he sent Samuel Moutoussamy through on goal and the midfielder netted his first goal in a national team jersey, having made his debut all the way back in 2019 and amassed over 60 caps.

Zimbabwe pulled a goal back in added time at the end of the game when Marshall Munetsi scored his third of the qualification campaign already, turning the ball home at the back post from a corner.

Equatorial Guinea defeated Sierra Leone 1-0 in the other match in the group thanks to a strike from Spanish-born forward Loren Zuniga inside the first minute in neutral Yaounde.

The Leone Stars actually had more of the ball after that and created more chances, but could not find an equaliser.

DR Congo head Group E with six points from their two games, followed by Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea with three each, while Sierra Leone are yet to get off the mark.

Burkina Faso moved to the top of Group F when they defeated Central African Republic 1-0 in neutral Casablanca.

Teenager Aboubacar Camara scored the only goal of the game on the hour mark in just his second senior appearance as the Burkinabe completed a deserved victory.

They have four points from two games at the top of the group, while CAR have yet to get off the mark.

Mauritania have three points from their only outing to date and Benin one. Those two sides meet on Tuesday in neutral Abidjan.