AFCON Predictions - 13 November, Qualifiers

Simon Lewis

Editor

Last updated: 9 minutes ago

Simon Lewis 9 minutes ago

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Mali are looking strong for a tight win over Rwanda.
South Africa backed for a clean sheet win over Kenya.
Goals to flow between Egypt and Malawi.
Morocco and Niger to play it tight with goals hard to come by.

Lyle Foster of South Africa wins the ball against Cameroon (Getty Images).

Mali have opened Group K with victories over Cape Verde (3-1) and Liberia (1-0), conceding only one goal. Nene Dorgeles scored twice against Cape Verde although Ange Martial Tia’s absence reduces the hosts’ options up front. Rwanda also have six points after beating Liberia 3-1 and Cape Verde 2-1 with Claude Niyomugabo and Elie Tatou Iradukunda scoring in the latter comeback.

Mali are unbeaten in four previous meetings with Rwanda, winning three of those matches and keeping clean sheets in both 2021 clashes. Rwanda have scored only twice in those four clashes.

Full match preview here.

South Africa vs Kenya

Bafana Bafana have won three straight matches under Pitso Mosimane, beating Guinea 2-1, Eritrea 5-0 and Egypt 1-0. They have also kept three clean sheets in their last five matches. Teboho Mokoena is expected to play despite a knee problem while Thapelo Maseko is injured and Mbekezeli Mbokazi returns to the defence.

Kenya have won only two of their last 10 outings, drawing with Eritrea and Rwanda either side of a defeat to Guinea in October. Benni McCarthy can at least welcome striker Michael Olunga back from injury. With South Africa winning both previous meetings and showing better recent form, South Africa look good to back for a win to nil.

Full match preview here.

Egypt vs Malawi

Egypt lead Group B after a 0-0 draw against Angola and a 5-0 away victory over South Sudan. The Pharaohs have won three of their last five at home, conceding just twice across those matches. Omar Marmoush has been among their scorers in this qualifying round along with Ahmed Sayed Zizo, Hamza Abdel Karim and Ibrahim Adel.

Malawi beat South Sudan 2-1 before losing 3-1 to Angola and they have lost four of their last five away fixtures. They have scored only two goals in that away run. Egypt have won the last three meetings with Malawi, suggesting that a home win without conceding a goal sounds a sensible choice.

Full match preview here.

Morocco vs Niger

Morocco lead Group A after a pair of 2-0 victories against Gabon and Lesotho. The Atlas Lions have kept both clean sheets and have beaten Niger in their last five meetings, including a 5-0 thrashing in September 2025. Their attack is depleted but Ayoub El Kaabi, Soufiane Rahimi and Ismaël Saibari are all unavailable but on the plus side Youssef En-Nesyri will be back in the squad.

Niger took three points from their first two qualifiers after beating Lesotho 2-1 only to lose 2-0 to Gabon. Both matches ended with under four goals, while Morocco’s opening two wins both saw less then three goals in each match.

Full match preview here.

Verdict

African Cup of Nations

I'm backing clean sheet wins for Mali and South Africa, three goals or more as Egypt beat Malawi with a clean sheet while Morocco and Niger to score two goals or less in the match.

Egypt Goals

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Simon is a talented sports writer in South Africa with a strong focus on cricket having played first-team level for UCT, including playing at two Universities Weeks.

From a young age Simon was an avid reader of cricket magazines and books, and went on to be Editor of The Googly, CricketScene SA and SA Cricket, in addition to being a Features Writer on SA Sports Illustrated.

He has interviewed most of South Africa's premier cricketers and was the first writer to interview a teenaged Jacques Kallis.

Simon has also written about English and local football, rugby and cricket, in addition to major international tennis and golf stars and competitions.

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