Football: 2022 African Nations Championship qualification   Qualification hope still alive after a narrow 0-1 defeat |25 July 2022

Action from the Seychelles v Madagascar match

A 25th minute goal by Rafenoarisoa was enough to give the Barea of Madagascar a 1-0 away victory over Seychelles in the 2022 African Nations Championship qualification on Saturday at the Côte d’Or National Sports Complex in St Pierre, Mauritius.

Seychelles played their home match of the competition in Mauritius as Stad Linite is seen as not fit by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa) and the Confederation of African Football (Caf) to host international matches.

The qualifiers will decide the participating teams of the 2022 African Nations Championship which features only national team players who play in their countries’ own domestic league.

Following Saturday’s result, coach Vivian Bothe has said despite the loss, he was expecting a tougher match from the Indian Ocean giants who they managed to contain on the pitch.

He added that entering the away match with 0-1 deficit, his team still have the chance of qualifying.

On his part, coach Romuald Rakotondrabe said after two successive defeats, his players displayed a good sense of tactical discipline by keeping possession, and winning 1-0 against Seychelles was not easy, but it is a good thing for the remainder of the competition.

A total of 18 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Algeria who qualified automatically as hosts.

Only three spots are available per zone, including the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) in which Seychelles compete.

The away leg will be played on Sunday at the Stade Municipal de Mahamasina, in Antananarivo, Madagascar.

A total of 42 out of 54 Caf member national teams entered the qualifying rounds, split into zones according to their regional affiliations, and the draw for the qualifying rounds was held on May 26, 2022 at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

Roland Duval