Cape Verde, an island nation off the west coast of Africa with a population of about 525,000, stayed on track for a first World Cup appearance by winning 2-0 in Mauritius on Thursday.

Portugal-based Jovane Cabral scored after 22 minutes in the village of Saint-Pierre and Diney Borges, who plays for a United Arab Emirates club, added a second goal on 71 minutes.

Victory lifted the Blue Sharks to 16 points in Group D, one more than Cameroon, whose eight World Cup appearances is an African record.

Recent Manchester United recruit Bryan Mbeumo provided two assists as Cameroon scored three times in the first half to overcome Eswatini 3-0 in Yaounde.

The visitors fell behind after only six minutes when Gift Gamedze conceded an own goal. Georges-Kevin N’Koudou and Arthur Avom then nettedc within three minutes midway through the half.

Cape Verde host Cameroon in Praia on Tuesday and, should the islanders triumph, they would need three points in October from their remaining two qualifiers to win the group and qualify.

Between October 8-14, Cape Verde visit third-placed Libya, then return home to face current bottom team Eswatini in the final matchday.

Local Pedro Leitao Brito, a 55-year-old popularly known as Bubista, has coached Cape Verde since 2020 and took them to the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals in the Ivory Coast last year.

Libya rose one place to third by surprising Angola 1-0 in Luanda through a 48th-minute goal from Ezoo el Mariamy.

Meanwhile, Group I leaders Ghana conceded a late goal to draw 1-1 in Chad — a result which ended a run of four straight victories by the Black Stars.

– Chad hold Ghana –

Jordan Ayew, a son of Ghana legend Abedi ‘Pele’ Ayew, pushed a Mohammed Kudus cross into the net on 17 minutes at the new 30,000-seat national stadium in N’Djamena.

But a solo run and shot by Celestin Ecua on 89 minutes drew Chad level, and earned the central Africans a first point after six consecutive losses.

It was an encouraging start for Chad coach Raoul Savoy, a 52-year-old Swiss who has been in charge of another African football minnow, the Central African Republic, three times.

Ghana have qualified for the World Cup four times, including the 2022 tournament in Qatar, and top the table with 16 points.

They are three points above Madagascar, who beat the Central African Republic 2-0 in Casablanca through goals from Warren Caddy and Arnaud Randrianantenaina.

Madagascar hosted the match in Morocco — 8,285 kilometres from the Maalagasy capital Antananarivo — because their national stadium does not meet international standards.

A dramatic comeback in Group H saw fourth-placed Equatorial Guinea overcome a two-goal half-time deficit to edge bottom team Sao Tome e Principe 3-2 in Oujda.

Ronaldo Afonso converted two penalties for Sao Tome before a 17-minute goal blitz by the Equatoguineans ended with Jose Nabil firing the 70th-minute winner.

The first African qualifiers could emerge on Friday. Shock 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco will win Group E if they defeat Niger in Rabat and Tanzania do not beat Congo in Brazzaville.

The nine group winners secure places at the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The best four runners-up get a second chance, via two sets of play-offs, to be among the 48 qualifiers.

African 2026 World Cup matchday 7 qualifying results

Group A

In Bissau

Guinea-Bissau 1 (Balde 75) Sierra Leone 1 (Kamara 45+1)

Group D

In Saint-Pierre, Mauritius

Mauritius 0 Cape Verde 2 (Cabral 22, Borges 71)

In Luanda

Angola 0 Libya 1 (El Mariamy 48)

In Yaounde

Cameroon 3 (Gamedze 6-og, N’Koudou 25, Avom 28) Eswatini 0

Group G

In Tizi Ouzou, Algeria

Algeria 3 (Amoura 33, Bounedjah 72, 90+6) Botswana 1 (Kopelang 43)

Group H

In Oujda, Morocco

Sao Tome e Principe 2 (Afonso 8-pen, 42-pen) Equatorial Guinea 3 (Ganet 53, Salvador 62, Nabil 70)

In Rades, Tunisia

Tunisia 3 (Mastouri 5, Sassi 66, Saad 90+4) Liberia 0

Group I

In N’Djamena

Chad 1 (Ecua 89) Ghana 1 (Ayew 17)

In Casablanca, Morocco

Madagascar 2 (Caddy 45+2, Randrianantenaina 59) Central African Republic 0

In Berkane, Morocco

Mali 3 (Nene 28, Doumbia 70-pen, Coulibaly 76) Comoros 0

Note: Sao Tome, Madagascar and Mali staged home matches at neutral venues as they do not have FIFA-approved stadiums.(Vanguard)