JOHANNESBURG // Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo, Tunisia and Uganda on Sunday filled the final five 2017 Africa Cup of Nations places that were up for grabs.
They will join Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Zimbabwe, all of whom qualified before the final round, and hosts Gabon at the tournament next January.
On a dramatic final day of qualifying, Togo scored five goals, DR Congo and Tunisia four each and Burkina Faso won with a goal nine minutes into stoppage time.
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But no celebrations could match those of Uganda, whose last of five appearances at the African football showpiece was in 1978, when they finished runners-up to hosts Ghana.
Tunisia won Group A by trouncing Liberia 4-1 in Monastir with a Wahbi Khazri goal after only five minutes setting the tone.
Liberian Mark Paye cut the deficit to 2-1 on 71 minutes only for Tunisia to respond with two more goals in the following six minutes.
Togo hammered whipping boys Djibouti 5-0 in Lome in the same mini-league to claim one of two places reserved for the runners-up with the most points.
The Togolese shared second place in the runners-up standings with Benin and Ethiopia, but had a vastly superior goal difference.
Komlan Agbegniadan rounded off the rout with two goals in the final four minutes for Togo, who are coached by veteran Frenchman Claude Le Roy.
DR Congo took control in the second half to whip Central African Republic 4-1 in a top-of-the-table Group B clash and finish five points clear.
Jonathan Bolingi and Jordan Botaka scored during the final quarter after the visitors had pulled one goal back through Eloge Enza-Yamissi to trail 2-1 on 62 minutes in Kinshasa.
A Banou Diawara goal after 99 minutes in Ouagadougou gave Burkina Faso a 2-1 win over Botswana in a match that produced three red cards, two of them to the visitors.
The last-gasp victory gave Burkina Faso, of whom Al Nasr forward Jonathan Pitropia represents, top place in Group D on the head-to-head rule over Uganda, who qualified as the best runners-up.
Teenager Farouk Miya scored 35 minutes into the first half to give Uganda a 1-0 win over the Comoros in front of a capacity 45,000 Kampala crowd.
But Uganda wasted several chances to extend the lead and ease visible tension on the pitch and in the packed stands.
Equatorial Guinea, 2015 Cup of Nations hosts and semi-finalists, scored four goals within 16 minutes to crush South Sudan 4-0 in a Group C match in Malabo that had only pride at stake.
In five previous qualifiers against Benin, South Sudan and Mali, the Equatoguineans managed to score just twice in 450 minutes.
Collated Africa Cup of Nations match day 6 qualifying results Sunday:
Group A
• At Lome
Togo 5 (Bossou 25, Dossevi 44, Laba 52, Agbegniadan 87, 90) Djibouti 0
• At Monastir, Tunisia
Tunisia 4 (Khazri 5, Khenissi 35, Khalifa 73, Lahmar 77-pen) Liberia 1 (Paye 71)
Standings (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points)
Tunisia 6 4 1 1 16 3 13 — qualified
Togo 6 3 2 1 11 4 11 — qualified
Liberia 6 3 1 2 11 8 10
Djibouti 6 0 0 6 1 24 0
Group B
• At Kinshasa
Democratic Republic of Congo 4 (Kebano 28, Mubele 46, Bolingi 71, Botaka 90) Central African Republic 1 (Enza-Yamissi 62)
Saturday
• At Luanda
Angola 1 (Gelson 55) Madagascar 1 (Razakanantenaina 17)
Standings
DR Congo 6 5 0 1 16 6 15 — qualified
CAR 6 3 1 2 9 11 10
Angola 6 1 2 3 7 8 5
Madagascar 6 0 3 3 5 12 3
Group C
• At Malabo
Equatorial Guinea 4 (Miranda 70, Nsue 75, Akapo 80, Iyanga 85) South Sudan 0
• At Bamako
Mali 5 (Yatabare 20, Diaby 36, Marega 40, Traore 65, Doumbia 80) Benin 2 (Gounongbe 42, Sessegnon 89)
Standings
Mali 6 5 1 0 13 3 16 — qualified
Benin 6 3 2 1 12 10 11
E Guinea 6 1 1 4 6 6 4
S Sudan 6 1 0 5 3 15 3
Group D
• At Ouagadougou
Burkina Faso 2 (Nakoulma 18, Diawara 90+9) Botswana 1 (Sesinyi 80-pen)
• At Kampala
Uganda 1 (Miya 35) Comoros 0
Standings
B Faso 6 4 1 1 6 2 13 — qualified
Uganda 6 4 1 1 6 2 13 — qualified
Botswana 6 2 0 4 5 8 6
Comoros 6 1 0 5 2 7 3
Group E
• At Brazzaville
Congo Brazzaville 1 (Dore 80) Guinea-Bissau 0
• At Ndola, Zambia
Zambia 1 (Kalaba 86) Kenya 1 (Masika 63)
Standings
G Bissau 6 3 1 2 7 7 10 — qualified
Congo 6 2 3 1 9 7 9
Zambia 6 1 4 1 7 7 7
Kenya 6 1 2 3 5 7 5
Group F
• At Rabat
Morocco 2 (Ziyech 55-pen, Bouhaddouz 84) Sao Tome e Principe 0
Saturday
• At Praia
Cape Verde 0 Libya 1 (Al Triki 90+2)
Standings
Morocco 6 5 1 0 10 1 16 — qualified
C Verde 6 3 0 3 11 7 9
Libya 6 2 1 3 8 6 7
S Tome 6 1 0 5 4 19 3
Group G
Saturday
• At Uyo, Nigeria
Nigeria 1 (Iheanacho 78) Tanzania 0
Standings
Egypt 4 3 1 0 7 1 10 — qualified
Nigeria 4 1 2 1 2 2 5
Tanzania 4 0 1 3 0 6 1
Note: Chad withdrew after match day 3 for financial reasons
Group H
Saturday
• At Accra
Ghana 1 (Tetteh 24) Rwanda 1 (Hakizimana 83)
• At Maputo
Mozambique 1 (Bheu 90+10) Mauritius 0
Standings
Ghana 6 4 2 0 14 3 14 — qualified
Mozambique 6 2 1 3 5 7 7
Rwanda 6 2 1 3 9 6 7
Mauritius 6 2 0 4 3 15 6
Group I
Saturday
• At Bouake, Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast 1 (Kodjia 35) Sierra Leone 1 (K. Kamara 67)
Standings
I Coast 4 1 3 0 3 2 6 — qualified
S Leone 4 1 2 1 2 2 5
Sudan 4 1 1 2 2 3 4
Group J
• At Blida, Algeria
Algeria 6 (Soudani 8, 39, Mahrez 18, 74, Taider 23, Boudebouz 45+2-pen) Lesotho 0
Saturday
• At Hawassa, Ethiopia
Ethiopia 2 (Kebede 34, Said 56-pen) Seychelles 1 (Henriette 21)
Standings
Algeria 6 5 1 0 25 5 16 — qualified
Ethiopia 6 3 2 1 11 14 11
Seychelles 6 1 1 4 5 11 4
Lesotho 6 1 0 5 5 16 3
Group K
• At Niamey
Niger 0 Burundi 0
Saturday
• At Dakar
Senegal 2 (Keita 32, Diedhiou 90-pen) Namibia 0
Standings
Senegal 6 6 0 0 13 2 18 — qualified
Burundi 6 2 1 3 7 9 7
Namibia 6 2 0 4 5 9 6
Niger 6 1 1 4 2 7 4
Group L
• At Blantyre, Malawi
Malawi 1 (Phiri 9) Swaziland 0
• At Conakry
Guinea 1 (Landel 12) Zimbabwe 0
Standings
Zimbabwe 6 3 2 1 11 4 11 — qualified
Swaziland 6 2 2 2 6 9 8
Guinea 6 2 2 2 5 5 8
Malawi 6 1 2 3 5 9 5
Group M
Saturday
• At Limbe, Cameroon
Cameroon 2 (Moukandjo 35-pen, Ekambi 54) Gambia 0
Friday
• At Nelspruit, South Africa
South Africa 1 (Kekana 26) Mauritania 1 (Diallo 17)
Final standings
Cameroon 6 4 2 0 7 2 14 — qualified
Mauritania 6 2 2 2 6 5 8
S Africa 6 1 4 1 8 6 7
Gambia 6 0 2 4 1 9 2
Note: group winners and best two runners-up from four-team groups qualify for 2017 Cup of Nations with hosts Gabon
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