Senegal maintained their unbeaten start to 2026 World Cup qualifying with a 1-0 win in Mauritania on Sunday, while Tunisia also remained top of their group despite a goalless draw against Namibia.
Both Senegal and Tunisia were among the five African representatives at the last World Cup in Qatar and aim to qualify again for the tournament that will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Habib Diallo scored in the 27th minute (heading in a long cross from Pape Matar Sarr) to put Senegal at the top of Group B with the victory in Nouakchott, even though they were without Sadio Mané and Nicolas Jackson due to injury.
There was a long delay in finishing the match after frustrated home fans threw objects onto the pitch in the second half and proceedings were halted.
Senegal is one point above Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the group standings.
Congo beat Togo 1-0 in Kinshasa, with a decisive goal from Meshack Elia in the sixth minute.
Tunisia had been defeated by Namibia in the African Cup of Nations in January and came close to losing again in the match in Soweto, South Africa, because Namibia does not have a suitable venue.
Namibia had the ball in the net after 14 minutes, when Deon Hotto's free kick was missed by Tunisian goalkeeper Bechir Said and finished off by centre-back Charles Hambira.
But Mauritanian referee Dahane Beida ruled that the goalkeeper had been fouled after the ball escaped him, although television replays suggested there was minimal contact.
Tunisia has a two-point lead in Group H over Namibia and Liberia is one point further back in third place.
Liberia needed a last-minute goal from Sheikh Sesay to beat Sao Tome and Principe 1-0 in their match in Oudja, Morocco. Sao Tome has lost all four of its qualifying matches in Group H.
Djibouti earned its first point in Group A by drawing 1-1 with neighbors Ethiopia.
Eight more qualifying matches will be played in Africa on Monday.
There are nine groups in the African preliminaries and the group winners will advance to the 2026 finals in North America. The top four second-place finishers will have the opportunity to advance through two playoff tournament series.
