Namibia held already qualified Cameroon to a goalless draw in their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 qualifier at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

The match, which saw Namibia’s Brave Warriors playing for pride, ended 0-0 as both teams failed to break the deadlock despite some close attempts.

Namibia, who are out of the running for AFCON qualification, came out with determination, almost catching Cameroon off guard just seconds into the game. 

In the opening minute, Prins Tjiueza’s shot was blocked, and Aprocius Petrus sent a follow-up effort over the bar.

The Brave Warriors continued to push, with striker Peter Shalulile testing Cameroon’s goalkeeper, André Onana, who was forced to make a crucial save in the 42nd minute.

Cameroon, having already secured qualification, fielded a slightly altered lineup and maintained possession throughout the match without taking too many risks.

Vincent Aboubakar, usually the focal point of their attack, had a quiet game but saw his only shot fly high in the 83rd minute.

The second half saw Namibia come closest to scoring when Tjiueza struck the post twice in the 58th minute, giving the Indomitable Lions a scare.

Moments later, substitute Georges-Kévin N’Koudou provided a rare shot on target for Cameroon, which was easily saved.

Despite late pressure from both teams, neither side could break the deadlock.

Cameroon remains at the top of Group J, while Namibia’s spirited display earned them their first point of the qualifying campaign.

The Brave Warriors will look to finish the qualifying campaign with their heads held high, having managed to hold one of Africa’s top teams to a draw.

The Matchday 5 of the Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025, qualifiers will be played from Wednesday to Saturday across the continent.

Below are the match facts:

WEDNESDAY 13 NOVEMBER

Namibia vs Cameroon

●       Namibia extended their losing run to five games in AFCON qualifying with a 3-1 defeat against Zimbabwe last time out, with their last victory in this competition coming against today’s opponents Cameroon in March 2023 (2-1).

●       Cameroon are unbeaten in five AFCON qualifiers (W4 D1), winning each of their last two – they’ll be looking to win three in a row for the first time since November 2020.

●       Cameroon have made just two changes to their starting lineup across the first four matchdays of AFCON 2025 qualifying, fewer than any other team, with opponents Namibia making four times as many as the indomitable lions (8).

 Liberia – Togo 

●       Liberia are winless in five AFCON qualifying matches (D2 L3), losing each of their last three. In fact. They’ve only won one of their last 11 such matches (2-0 against Djibouti in the preliminary round in March).

●       Togo have lost their last two AFCON qualifiers, they haven’t lost three in a row since November 2019.

●       No team have lost more points from winning positions than Togo (5) in AFCON 2025 qualifying.

Chad – Sierra Leone

●       Chad have only won two of their last 14 AFCON qualifying matches (defeating Mauritius in both legs of the preliminary round in March, D4 L8), while they last won an AFCON qualifier in the main rounds in May 2014 (3-1 against Malawi).

●       Sierra Leone beat reigning AFCON Champions Côte d’Ivoire last time out, thanks to Amadou Bakayoko’s 85^th minute header, the Leone Stars last won consecutive AFCON qualifying matches in July 2014.

●       Chad are the only team yet to score in AFCON 2025 qualifying, they’ve had 31 shots in total so far, with just seven on target – a shooting accuracy of just 23%.

THURSDAY 15 NOVEMBER

 Madagascar – Tunisia

●       Madagascar remain winless in 14 AFCON qualifying matches (D7 L7), since a 6-2 victory against Niger in November 2019.

●       Having won their first two AFCON 2025 qualifiers, Tunisia have failed to win their last two games (D1 L1), they’ve not gone three consecutive AFCON qualifying matches without winning on record (since at least 2006).

●       Tunisia have played 166 passes into the box in AFCON 2025 qualifying, at least 14 more than any other team, with all four of their goals so far coming from inside the box.

Burundi – Malawi

●       Burundi have lost their last three qualifying matches for AFCON, only winning two of their last 10 such games (D2 L6).

●       Malawi are one of three teams to lose their first four AFCON 2025 qualifiers, while the Flames are winless in their last nine AFCON qualifying matches, since a 2-1 victory against Ethiopia in June 2022.

●       Burundi have conceded six goals via set-pieces in AFCON 2025 qualifying so far (2 pens, 3 from corners and one direct free-kick), more than any other team, while their three conceded via corners is also the most.

Benin – Nigeria

●       Benin have lost their last three AFCON qualifiers against Nigeria, failing to score in their last two.

●       Excluding their awarded match against Libya in matchday four, Nigeria are unbeaten in each of their last six AFCON qualifiers, winning five and keeping five clean sheets.

●       Ademola Lookman has scored two of Nigeria’s four goals in AFCON 2025 qualifying so far, while for club and country this season he’s netted 10 goals in 16 matches in all competitions.

 Rwanda – Libya

●       Rwanda earned their first victory in 11 AFCON qualifiers last tie out against Benin (2-1), they haven’t won back-to-back matches in AFCON qualifying since June 2015.

●       Libya are winless in their eight AFCON qualifying matches ( D2 L6, excluding the game awarded to Nigeria in MD4), failing to score in five of these matches and never scoring more than once in the others.

●       Libya are averaging less than six shots per game (5.7) in AFCON 2025 qualifying so far, fewer than any other team.

 Lesotho – Central African Republic

●       Lesotho are winless in their last 10 AFCON qualifiers (D2 L8) since a 3-1 victory against the Seychelles in March 2022, failing to score in eight matches in this run.

●       Central African Republic have lost five of their last six AFCON qualifiers (W1), failing to score in their last three.

●       Sera Motebang is Lesotho’s only goalscorer in AFCON 2025 qualifying so far, he’s had more shots on target (4) than the rest of his teammates combined (3).

 Equatorial Guinea – Algeria 

●       Having won their last two games in AFCON 2025 qualifying, Equatorial Guinea could win three consecutive matches in each of their last three qualifying campaigns for the Africa Cup of Nations.

●       Algeria are one of five teams with a 100% win rate in AFCON 2025 qualifying; they’re unbeaten in qualifying for the AFCON in 18 matches (W14 D4), since a 1-0 defeat to Benin in October 2018.

●       Only Morocco have scored more goals (14), more goals from open play (10) and more penalties (4) than Algeria (11 goals, 9 from open play, 2 penalties) in AFCON 2025 qualifying.

 Niger – Sudan 

●       Niger are without a win in 13 AFCON qualifying matches (D4 L9) since a 1-0 victory against Ethiopia in November 2020, failing to score in nine of these games.

●       Sudan’s goal keeper; Mohamed Mustafa has saved all 12 shots on target he’s faced in AFCON 2025 qualifying, the best 100% save percentage in the competition so far.

●       The average age of Sudan’s starting XI in these African 2025 qualifiers is 29yrs 248d, the oldest in the competition so far, while opponents Niger have the second-youngest (24yrs 259d).

South Sudan – Congo

●       South Sudan have lost four consecutive AFCON qualifiers for the first time since March 2019 (a run of 6), while they’re winless in each of their last nine (D2 L7).

●       Congo have only won one of their last six AFCON qualifiers (D2 L3), a 1-0 victory against today’s opponents South Sudan in MD1 in September, only scoring once across their three matches since (D1 L2).

●       Only Morocco (18) have made more changes to their starting XI across the first four matchdays of AFCON 2025 qualifying than South Sudan (17), while no team have used more players than the Bright Stars (28).

 Burkina Faso – Senegal

●       Senegal are unbeaten in their last six matches against Burkina Faso in all competitions (W2 D4), with both teams scoring in five of these matches.

●       Senegal have had the most shots in AFCON 2025 qualifying so far (76), although they’ve only scored from 9.2% of their attempts (7/76), with 20 teams currently having a better shot conversion rate in the competition.

●       Burkina Faso have scored four headed goals in AFCON 2025 qualifying so far, twice as many as any other team, with all four goals being scored by different players (Lassina Traoré, Dango Outtara, Issoufou Dayo and Mohamed Konaté).

FRIDAY 15 NOVEMBER

 Gambia – Comoros

●       Gambia have only lost one of their last seven AFCON qualifiers (W3 D3), scoring at least once in each game.

●       Comoros are unbeaten in their last six AFCON qualifying matches (W2 D4), scoring exactly once in each game.

●       Yankuba Minteh has been directly involved in three of Gambia’s four goals in AFCON 2025 qualifying so far (1 goal, 2 assists), while only Mozambique’s Geny Catamo (13) has completed more dribbles than the Gambian (12) in the competition.

 Gabon – Morocco

●       Since losing to Morocco (4-1) on matchday one, Gabon are unbeaten in their last three AFCON qualifiers (W2 D1), their longest such run without defeat since November 2020 (4 games, W2 D2)

●       Morocco have scored the most goals (14) in the competition so far, while they have also outperformed their expected goals tally by more than four goals, the biggest such difference across the first four matchdays (14 goals, 9.9 xG).

●       Gabon’s Dénis Bouanga had had the most shots (23) and shots on target (10) of any player so far in AFCON 2025 qualifying, although he’s yet to score a goal in the competition. Indeed, he’s been involved in more shot-ending sequences in open play (31) than any other player.

Cabo Verde – Egypt

●       Cabo Verde have lost four of their last five AFCON qualifiers (W1), including a 3-0 defeat to Egypt in September.

●       Egypt have won each of their last eight qualifying matches for the Africa Cup of Nations by an aggregate score of 19-1 since a 0-2 defeat to Ethiopia in June 2022.

●       Trézéguet has scored (3) or assisted (1) four of Egypt’s last seven goals in AFCON qualifying, scoring with all three of his shots on target in this qualifying campaign.

 Botswana – Mauritania

●       Mauritania have won each of their last three AFCON qualifiers against Botswana, all by a margin of a single goal (2x 1-0 and 1x 2-1).

●       Botswana have won both of their last two AFCON qualifiers (both 1-0 v Cabo Verde), more than their previous 10 beforehand (W1 D1 L8).

●       Mauritania have lost each of their last three AFCON qualifying matches without scoring, as many defeats as their previous 13 such qualifiers beforehand (W6 D4 L3).

Angola – Ghana

●       Angola have won all four of their qualifying matches for AFCON 2025, keeping three clean sheets in the process.

●       Only Chad (0) have scored fewer goals and have a lower shot conversion rate in 2025 AFCON qualifying heading into the November fixtures than Ghana, who have just one goal from 51 shots (2.0% conversion).

●       Ghana’s Mohammed Kudus has the highest expected goals tally (3.34) in AFCON 2025 qualifying so far, despite not yet scoring in the competition, having had 16 attempts at goal and missing more big chances than any other player (6).

Zambia – Côte d’Ivoire

●       Côte d’Ivoire have won three of their last four meetings with Zambia in all competitions, with the other a 3-0 AFCON qualifying loss in June 2023.

●       Zambia have only lost one of their last nine AFCON qualifiers (W6 D2), keeping a clean sheet in four of their last seven, including both of their last two. That defeat, however, was to Côte d’Ivoire in September.

●       Côte d’Ivoire’s Jean-Philippe Krasso has been directly involved in five goals in his last eight AFCON qualifier appearances (4 goals, 1 assist) despite only starting four of them.

 Mozambique – Mali 

●       Mozambique have won four and lost none of their last six AFCON qualifiers (D2), more wins than their previous 15 such games beforehand (W3 D4 L8).

●       Mali haven’t conceded more than one goal in any of their last 15 AFCON qualifiers (5 goals conceded, 10 clean sheets) since a 2-2 draw with Guinea in November 2019. They have kept a clean sheet in each of their last three such fixtures.

●       Mozambique’s Bruno Langa has more assists (4) than any player in 2025 AFCON qualifying heading into the November fixtures, setting up over half of his nation’s goals this campaign (4/7).

 Eswatini – Guinea-Bissau

●       Eswatini have failed to score in seven of their last eight matches in AFCON qualifiers (ex. preliminary round), scoring only in a 1-1 draw with Mozambique in October.

●       Guinea-Bissau are without a win any of their last three AFCON qualifiers (D1 L2), and could fail to score in three successive such games for the first time since November 2020.

●       Only Chad (32.7%) and South Sudan (33.8%) have averaged a lower amount of possession in AFCON 2025 qualifying than Eswatini (35.1%).

 Zimbabwe – Kenya

●       Zimbabwe are unbeaten in their previous six AFCON qualifiers (W2 D2); they last enjoyed a longer such run in June 2016 (W3 D3).

●       Kenya have lost each of their last two AFCON qualifiers; they last lost three in succession in March 2016.

●       50% of Zimbabwe’s goals scored in AFCON 2025 qualifying have come via penalties (2/4), the joint-highest such proportion for a side in qualifying.

Uganda – South Africa

●       Uganda have won each of their last three AFCON qualifiers, one more than in their previous 10 such outings (D3 L5).

●       South Africa are unbeaten in their previous seven AFCON qualifiers (W4 D3), while they’re scored in each of their last eight such games (18 goals).

●       Only Mozambique’s Bruno Langa (4) has more assists in AFCON 2025 qualifying than both Uganda’s Allan Okello and South Africa’s Oswin Appollis (both 3), with no player creating more chances than the South African in qualifying so far (12).  

SATURDAY 16 NOVEMBER 2024

Guinea – DR Congo

●       Guinea are looking to win three successive AFCON qualifiers for the first time since March 2023, though they did lose 1-0 the last time they played DR Congo in September.

●       DR Congo have won each of their last eight AFCON qualifiers, scoring 16 goals and conceding none; by comparison they had only won two of their prior eight such games (D3 L3).

●       Guinea’s Serhou Guirassy is the top goal scorer in AFCON 2025 qualifying, netting five goals from just six shots, despite only playing in two matches so far.

Ethiopia – Tanzania

●       Ethiopia are winless in their last eight AFCON qualifiers (D2 L6), losing their last three such games by an aggregate score of 1-9.

●       Tanzania have lost each of their last two AFCON qualifiers, both to DR Congo without scoring; they’ve not lost three successive such games before on record (since at least 2006).

●       Only Congo (-4.23) and Central African Republic (-3.68) have a lower negative differential between goals conceded and expected goals conceded in AFCON 2025 qualifying than Ethiopia (-2.85, 9 goals conceded and 6.15 expected goals against).

Four-time Africa Cup of Nations winners Ghana could see their streak of 10 successive appearances at the tournament come to an end this week as victories in their remaining two qualifiers may not be enough to seal a place at the finals in Morocco.

Only Egypt (26) and Cote d’Ivoire (25) have been to more Cup of Nations finals than the Black Stars (24) but Ghana are likely to be out of contention by Thursday after a woeful qualifying campaign.

The top two finishers in each of the 12 groups advance to next year’s finals. Ghana are third in Group F with two points from four matches, with Angola already qualified and Sudan needing just a draw from two games to join them.

Angola have a 100% record with four straight wins while Sudan are on seven points and face bottom-placed Niger in neutral Togo on Thursday. Sudan also have the upper hand on Ghana on a head-to-head basis.

Ghana must beat Angola in Luanda and Niger at home and hope Sudan lose both their matches if they are to qualify. The future of coach Otto Addo could be on the line if Ghana miss out.

Angola, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, hosts Morocco and Senegal have already booked their spots at the 24-team tournament, which runs from Dec. 21, 2025 until Jan. 18, 2026.

Holders Cote d’Ivoire start their final pair of Group G fixtures at Zambia on Friday needing a point to qualify.

Nigeria, who were awarded the points from last month’s aborted tie in Libya where they refused to play after being stuck in a remote airport for half a day before the match, can secure their place with a win over Benin in neutral Abidjan.

Tunisia fired coach Faouzi Benzarti after a shock home loss to the tiny Comoros Islands last month but are still top of Group A as they attempt to secure a record-extending 17th successive appearance at the finals.

Caretaker coach Kais Yaacoubi will lead the team to face Madagascar in neutral South Africa on Thursday where a win would all but ensure they go to the finals once again.

Madagascar are among 18 countries unable to host home qualifiers after the Confederation of African Football ruled their facilities inadequate for internationals.

-Reuters