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Taifa Stars moved to second place in Group F and were hoping that East African rivals Uganda fail to collect maximum points against Algeria
Tanzania have boosted their chances of qualifying for the delayed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations following a 1-0 win over Niger in Dar es Salaam on Sunday.
Simon Msuva scored the lone goal in the 69th minute after connecting well with Mrisho Ngasa’s pass to leave the Taifa Stars second on Group F with seven points, three ahead of Uganda, with one game remaining.
With Uganda taking on group leaders Algeria on Sunday, Tanzania were hoping that the Cranes fail to win to remain in second place, heading into the final round of qualifiers when they play away to the already qualified Algeria in September while their East Africa rivals face Niger.
Tanzania got a chance to rewrite their mistakes since their last outing at home against Uganda when they lost 1-0.
Although they had not won at home since 2022, an opportunity to cement second spot by virtue of a win, presented itself and they grabbed it with both hands even though they should have won by a bigger margin had it not been down to their wastefulness.
The Taifa Stars had not scored at home in the qualifiers heading into Sunday’s match but were also given encouragement by the fact that their opponents had not won an AFCON qualifying match since 2020 and failed to keep a clean sheet in a competitive game since 2021.
That is how it turned out with Msuva maintaining his good form in the qualifiers, scoring his third goal in the last four games for his country, and his 19th overall.
Tanzania are bidding to return to the competition, which will be played in the Ivory Coast next year, since the 2019 edition in Egypt, having failed to qualify for the 2021 tournament.
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