The first round of qualifiers for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) began with intense matches, but Cape Verde stood out negatively as the only Portuguese-speaking country to suffer a defeat. In their match against Egypt, the Cape Verdean team lost 3-0, with goals from Rabia, Marmoush, and Adel, in a game where the Egyptians dominated from start to finish. Cape Verde now needs to recover in the upcoming rounds if it wants to keep alive its hopes of qualifying for the tournament, which will be held in Morocco between December 2025 and January 2026.
In contrast, other Portuguese-speaking teams performed more positively. Mozambique, led by young talent Geny Catamo, secured a valuable draw against Mali away from home. Catamo scored a fantastic goal in the 37th minute after a perfect cross from Bruno Langa, formerly of Chaves. However, Mali equalized with a goal from Bissouma, ending the game 1-1.
Angola also got off to a good start, securing an important away win against Ghana by 1-0. The decisive goal was scored by Milson in stoppage time, at 90+3 minutes, guaranteeing three precious points for the Angolans, who now share the lead in Group F with Sudan, who beat Niger 1-0.
Guinea-Bissau, in turn, overcame Eswatini with a narrow 1-0 victory. The only goal was scored by Bura in the 14th minute in Bissau. With this win, the Guineans earned their first three points in Group I and are preparing to face Mozambique in Maputo next Tuesday.
With this start, the Portuguese-speaking national teams are proving to be competitive, except for Cape Verde, which will have to correct course in the coming rounds to maintain its chances of qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
