Zambia have qualified for the African Cup of Nations for the first time in eight years after whitewashing next year’s AFCON hosts Ivory Coast 3-0 in a match staged at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola on Saturday afternoon.Heading to the match, the 2012 African champions needed a win to secure a ticket to the Ivory Coast and they gave the 2015 champions a reality check, thrashing them.##NAJAVA_MECA_7324568##Things started going wrong for Ivory Coast in the 31st minute when Nottingham Forest defender, Serge Aurier put the ball into his own net for the opening goal. That was the only goal of the first half although there were a couple of chances for both teams to score.Three minutes into the second half, Patson Daka made it 2-0 for the home team before Kings Kangwa completed the rout in the 55th minute. The home team in the end picked up three deserved points.The win sees Zambia go top in group H with ten points. They qualify alongside the hosts. Comoros and Lesotho crash out of the qualifiers. Zambia end the qualifiers with an away match against Comoros while Ivory Coast will host Lesotho.In group E, Angola edged closer to securing an AFCON ticket after picking a precious 2-1 win over the ten-man Central African Republic. Kialonda Gaspar opened the scoring for the visitors in the 12th minute before Atletico Madrid midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia drew his side level in the 46th minute.Things became tough for CAR in the 70th minute when Dominique Youfeigane was sent off and they had to play the remainder of the game a man down. Felicio Milson then broke their hearts four minutes from time with the winning goal. Ghana top the group with eight points same as Angola who are second. CAR are third with seven while Madagascar are rock bottom with one.CAR end the campaign with an away match against Ghana while Angola will host Madagascar.BJK Cup 2023: Kenya clinch third place finish after victory over ZimbabweAFRICA CUP OF NATIONSQualifiers – Round 5SaturdayCentral Africa – Angola 1-1 (0-1)/Kondogbia 46 – Gaspar 12/Zambia – Ivory Coast 3-0 (1-0)/Aurier 31 og, Daka 28, Kangwa 31/Lesotho – Comores 0-0 (0-0)//18:00: (5.20) S.Africa (3.45) Morocco (1.75)18:00: (3.70) Equatorial Guinea (3.15) Tunisia (2.15)19:00: (2.45) Botswana (3.10) Libya (3.15)22:00: (5.70) Benin (3.50) Senegal (1.68)Sunday16:00: (2.40) Rwanda (3.10) Mozambique (3.20)16:00: (2.05) Tanzania (3.20) Niger (4.00)17:00: (7.50) Madagascar (3.50) Ghana (1.57)18:00: (4.20) Eswatini (3.20) Togo (2.00)18:00: (4.40) Uganda (3.35) Algeria (1.90)19:00: (7.25) Sierra Leone (4.40) Nigeria (1.45)19:00: (2.40) Cape Verde (3.10) Burkina Faso (3.20)19:00: (4.10) Congo (3.15) Mali (2.05)21:00: (2.30) Gabon (3.10) Dr Congo (3.40)***odds are subject to change***
