Sudan head coach Kwasi Appiah, has expressed excitement following his team’s crucial victory over Mauritania on Thursday in the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification game.
Mauritania’s hopes of capitalizing on home advantage fizzled as they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat against Sudan in their CAF 2026 World Cup qualifier at the Stade de la Capitale on Thursday evening.
The loss solidifies Sudan’s grip on Group B, maintaining their lead with seven points. Conversely, Mauritania languishes at the bottom of the standings with just one point after three matches.
The match saw Sudan asserting early dominance, with Saif Thierry breaking the deadlock in the 15th minute from a well-executed free kick. Aly Abeid’s unfortunate own goal in the 29th minute further compounded Mauritania’s woes.
Despite showing signs of recovery, Mauritania failed to capitalize on possession and momentum, with goalkeeper Babacar Niasse’s heroics preventing further damage in the first half.
Coach Amir Abode’s halftime adjustments aimed to alter the game’s trajectory, but Mauritania’s attacking efforts fell short, epitomized by Abdallahi Mahmoud’s missed opportunity in the dying minutes.
Ultimately, Sudan’s resilient defense ensured they held onto their lead, securing all three points in a frustrating outing for Mauritania, who struggled to convert possession into goals.
Speaking exclusively to Sportsworldghana.com on Friday morning, Appiah said ”I think we played well and deserved to win,” ”For as every game is an away game for us because we are playing without our supporters,” he emphasized.
”We’re always encouraging the guys to go all out, telling them that they can do it and can also qualify to play at the World Cup.
”Unfortunately three of our key players couldn’t join us but we still managed to work with the players available, at least creating opportunity for the other players to also play and they did well to get us the important win in Mauritania.
”We’re building a competitive young team here such that if some players aren’t available others can step in and play to give us results.
The former Black Stars gaffer also, threw light on his side’s next game against South Sudan on Tuesday, 11th June, 2024.
”Our next game will be on Tuesday away against South Sudan so we are preparing to go into that game with same winning mentality to ensure we get good results there. This is World Cup qualifiers so you can’t underrate any team but we will do our best to get positive results against South Sudan who drew their last game against Togo.” concluded Appiah who coached Ghana at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Sudan currently leads Group B with 7 points whiles Senegal and DR Congo have five and four points respectively after playing three matches so far in the qualifiers.
