2017 AFCON qualifiers: Morocco qualifies for Gabon 2017 even with 2 rounds to go

Cairo, Egypt (PANA) - With four rounds of matches concluded and two more to go in the qualifying series of the 2017 African Nations Cup (AFCON), Morocco has qualified for the final tournament, to be hosted by Gabon between January and February 2017.

With the 12 maximum points from four matches in Group F, Morocco joins automatic qualifier and hosts Gabon in the final tournament.

However, five teams have been eliminated even with two rounds of matches to go. They are Djibouti in Group A, Equatorial Guinea in Group C, Kenya in Group E, Nigeria in Group G, and Mozambique in Group H.

Below are the group standings, tabulated under Played (Pld), Won (W), Draw (D), Goals For (GF), Goals Against (GA), Goal Difference (GD) and Points (Pts).

Group A - Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Liberia 4 3 0 1 8 2 +6 9
2 Tunisia 4 2 1 1 9 2 +7 7
3 Togo 4 2 1 1 4 2 +2 7
4 Djibouti (Eliminated) 4 0 0 4 1 16 −15 0
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Group B - Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 DR Congo 4 3 0 1 6 4 +2 9
2 Central African Republic 4 2 1 1 5 6 −1 7
3 Angola 4 1 1 2 5 4 +1 4
4 Madagascar 4 0 2 2 3 5 −2 2

Note - Madagascar cannot win the group, but may still qualify as one of two best second-placed teams.
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Group C - Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Mali 4 3 1 0 5 1 +4 10
2 Benin 4 2 2 0 8 4 +4 8
3 South Sudan 4 1 0 3 3 8 −5 3
4 Equatorial Guinea (Eliminated) 4 0 1 3 1 4 −3 1

Note - South Sudan cannot win the group, but may still qualify as one of two best second-placed teams.
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Group D - Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Burkina Faso 4 2 1 1 3 1 +2 7
2 Uganda 4 2 1 1 3 1 +2 7
3 Botswana 4 2 0 2 3 4 −1 6
4 Comoros 4 1 0 3 2 5 −3 3
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Group E - Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Guinea-Bissau 4 2 1 1 4 4 0 7
2 Congo 4 1 3 0 7 5 +2 6
3 Zambia 4 1 3 0 4 3 +1 6
4 Kenya (Eliminated) 4 0 1 3 2 5 −3 1
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Group F - Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Morocco (Qualified) 4 4 0 0 7 0 +7 12
2 Cape Verde (Y) 4 2 0 2 9 5 +4 6
3 Libya (Y) 4 1 0 3 6 5 +1 3
4 São Tomé and Príncipe (Y) 4 1 0 3 3 15 −12 3
Note - Cape Verde, Libya and Sao Tome and Principe will not win the group, but may still qualify as one of two best second-placed teams.
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Group G - Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Egypt 3 2 1 0 5 1 +4 7
2 Nigeria (Eliminated) 3 0 2 1 1 2 −1 2
3 Tanzania 2 0 1 1 0 3 −3 1
4 Chad (Withdraws) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Note - Chad withdrew from the competition on financial grounds although it had played three matches. In view of the withdrawal, all its results from the three matches have been annulled and will not be taken into consideration according to the regulations. Second-placed Nigeria has been eliminated but Tanzania still has a match in hand (third match) before it will be determined whether it will be eliminated. Moreover, the runners-up are now not eligible to qualify as one of the two runners-up with the best records.
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Group H - Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Ghana 4 3 1 0 11 2 +9 10
2 Rwanda 4 2 0 2 6 2 +4 6
3 Mauritius 4 2 0 2 3 12 −9 6
4 Mozambique (Eliminated) 4 0 1 3 1 5 −4 1
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Group I - Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Ivory Coast 3 1 2 0 2 1 +1 5
2 Sudan 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
3 Sierra Leone 2 0 1 1 0 1 −1 1
Gabon was drawn into this group and will play games against the other three teams in the group; However, these matches will only be considered as friendlies and not counted for the standings.
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Group J - Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Algeria 4 3 1 0 17 5 +12 10
2 Ethiopia 4 1 2 1 7 12 −5 5
3 Seychelles 4 1 1 2 4 7 −3 4
4 Lesotho 4 1 0 3 4 8 −4 3
Note - Lesotho cannot win the group, but may still qualify as one of two best second-placed teams.
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Group K - Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Senegal 4 4 0 0 9 2 +7 12
2 Burundi 4 2 0 2 7 7 0 6
3 Niger 4 1 0 3 2 6 −4 3
4 Namibia 4 1 0 3 4 7 −3 3
Note - Niger and Namibia cannot win the group, but may still qualify as one of two best second-placed teams.
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Group L - Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Zimbabwe 4 2 2 0 8 3 +5 8
2 Swaziland 4 1 2 1 5 8 −3 5
3 Guinea 4 1 2 1 4 4 0 5
4 Malawi 4 0 2 2 4 6 −2 2
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Group M - Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Cameroon 4 2 2 0 4 2 +2 8
2 Mauritania 4 2 1 1 5 3 +2 7
3 South Africa 4 0 3 1 3 5 −2 3
4 Gambia 4 0 2 2 1 3 −2 2
Gambia cannot win the group, but may still qualify as one of two best second-placed teams.
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Days 5 and 6 matches will be played 3–5 June, 2016, and 2–4 September, 2016, respectively.
-0- PANA VAO/MA 30March2016