2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group A

Group A of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification tournament was one of the twelve groups that decided the teams which qualified for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations finals tournament. The group consisted of four teams: Mali, Guinea, Namibia, and Chad (winners of the preliminary round).[1]

The teams played against each other in home-and-away round-robin format, originally scheduled between November 2019 and September 2020.[2][3]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all matches of matchdays 3 and 4 scheduled for March 2020 were postponed until further notice.[4] FIFA recommended that all June 2020 international matches (matchday 5) be postponed,[5] and also postponed the September 2020 window (matchday 6) for CAF.[6]

On 30 June 2020, the CAF announced the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations final tournament had been postponed from January 2021 to January 2022, without announcing the new dates of the remaining qualifiers.[7] On 19 August 2020, the CAF announced the new dates of the remaining qualifiers, with matchdays 3 and 4 rescheduled to be played between 9–17 November 2020, and matchdays 5 and 6 rescheduled to be played between 22 and 30 March 2021.[8]

Mali and Guinea, the group winners and runners-up respectively, qualified for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

Standings

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Mali 6 4 1 1 10 4 +6 13 Final tournament — 2–2 1–0 3–0[a]
2  Guinea 6 3 2 1 8 5 +3 11 1–0 — 2–0 1–0
3  Namibia 6 3 0 3 8 7 +1 9 1–2 2–1 — 2–1
4  Chad 6 0 1 5 2 12 −10 1 0–2 1–1 0–3[a] —
Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b On 22 March 2021, CAF disqualified Chad due to government interference. As a result, the two final matches involving Chad were cancelled and awarded as 3–0 wins for their opponents.[9]

Matches

Namibia 2–1 Chad
 Report
Referee: Mohamed Diraneh Guedi (Djibouti)
Mali 2–2 Guinea
 Report
Referee: Noureddine El Jaafari (Morocco)
Chad 0–2 Mali
Report
Referee: Dahane Beida (Mauritania)
Guinea 2–0 Namibia
 Report
Referee: Kouassi Attisso Attiogbe (Togo)
Guinea 1–0 Chad
Camara 45' Report
Referee: Mohamed Maarouf Eid (Egypt)
Mali 1–0 Namibia
 Report
Referee: Mohamed Ali Moussa (Niger)
Chad 1–1 Guinea
 Report
Referee: Boureima Sanogo (Burkina Faso)
Namibia 1–2 Mali
 Report
Referee: Ali Mohamed Adelaid (Comoros)
Chad 0–3
Awarded[note 1]		 Namibia
Guinea 1–0 Mali
 Report
Referee: Youssef Essrayri (Tunisia)
Namibia 2–1 Guinea
 Report
Referee: Norman Matemera (Zimbabwe)
Mali 3–0
Awarded[note 2]		 Chad

Goalscorers

There were 28 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 2.33 goals per match.

4 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Notes

  1. ^ On 22 March 2021, CAF decided that the match scheduled for 24 March 2021 would be awarded as a 3–0 win for Namibia due to the disqualification of Chad.[9]
  2. ^ On 22 March 2021, CAF decided that the match scheduled for 28 March 2021 would be awarded as a 3–0 win for Mali due to the disqualification of Chad.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Draw for 2021 Africa Cup of Nations released". CAF. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  2. ^ "TOTAL Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers 2021 Fixture" (PDF). CAF.
  3. ^ "TOTAL Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers 2021 Fixture (March 2020)" (PDF). CAF.
  4. ^ "Total AFCON 2021 qualifiers postponed". CAF. 13 March 2020.
  5. ^ "Dedicated COVID-19 working group proposes recommendations after first meeting". FIFA.com. 3 April 2020.
  6. ^ "FIFA Council unanimously approves COVID-19 Relief Plan". FIFA.com. 25 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Decisions of CAF Executive Meeting – 30 June 2020". CAF. 30 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Cameroon 2021 qualifiers resume November, Qatar 2022 set for May 2021". CAF. 19 August 2020.
  9. ^ a b c "Chad disqualified from Total AFCON, Cameroon 2021 qualifications". CAF. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.