Burkina Faso, Gabon claim finals spots

A barren draw against Angola in Luanda was enough to see Gabon through joining Burkina Faso who beat Lesotho 1-0 in Maseru, both on Saturday.

The two teams made certain of the automatic slots in Group B leaving Angola with the only hope of the third best placed team.

‘Les Etalons’ continued with their impressive run by snatching the maximum points at the expense of hosts ‘Likuena’ of Lesotho in Maseru. Playmaker Jonathan Pitroipa scored the only goal of the match on three minutes as the West Africans completed a double over the Southern Africans.

Burkina Faso, losing finalists at the last edition in South Africa in 2013, lead the pack in Group B with 10 points and have reached the final tournament for the fourth successive time since 2010.

After snatching a point off Angola, Gabon moved to nine points, five points richer than the former, qualifying alongside ‘Les Etalons. Lesotho remains at the bottom with two points.

On Wednesday, Burkina Faso will host Angola in Luanda whilst Gabon squares Lesotho in Libreville.