Nigeria and Ghana suffered setbacks in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on Tuesday after losing to Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia respectively.
Guinea-Bissau stunned the Super Eagles 3-0 in Group L, while The Gambia overturned a two-goal deficit to defeat Ghana 4-2 in Group C.
The results left both West African sides under early pressure in their respective groups, while Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia moved to six points from their opening two matches.
According to the Confederation of African Football, the results were among the major outcomes from Tuesday’s Matchday 2 fixtures.
Nigeria 0-3 Guinea-Bissau
Nigeria’s hopes of building on their opening-day victory over Madagascar suffered a blow as Guinea-Bissau secured a 3-0 victory.
Franculino opened the scoring after 15 minutes before Mama Baldé doubled Guinea-Bissau’s advantage midway through the second half.
Álvaro Djaló completed the victory in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
The win gave Guinea-Bissau six points from two matches after they opened their campaign with a 2-0 away victory over co-hosts Tanzania.
Nigeria had started with a 2-1 comeback win over Madagascar but could not repeat that recovery against Guinea-Bissau.
With Tanzania already guaranteed a place at the 2027 finals as a co-host, only the highest-placed team among Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria and Madagascar will qualify from Group L alongside them.
Ghana 2-4 The Gambia
Ghana also suffered a damaging defeat after allowing a two-goal lead to slip against The Gambia.
Ernest Nuamah gave Ghana the lead from the penalty spot in the 27th minute before Felix Afena-Gyan doubled the advantage six minutes later.
The Gambia quickly responded, with Muhammed Badamosi converting a penalty in the 37th minute before Omar Colley levelled the scores five minutes later.
The teams went into half-time at 2-2.
Ebrima Colley completed The Gambia’s comeback in the 68th minute before scoring again in stoppage time to seal a 4-2 victory.
The Gambia now have six points from two matches after also beating Somalia 2-1 in their opening game.
Ghana, meanwhile, have lost both of their opening qualifiers after previously suffering a 2-0 defeat away to Côte d’Ivoire.
Rwanda maintain perfect start
Rwanda maintained their perfect record by beating Cape Verde 2-1 away in Group K.
Benchimol put Cape Verde ahead five minutes before half-time, but Claude Niyomugabo equalised in first-half stoppage time.
Elie Iradukunda Tatou then completed Rwanda’s comeback seven minutes after the restart.
Rwanda had opened their campaign with a 3-1 victory over Liberia and now have six points.
Cape Verde remain without a point after also losing 3-1 to Mali in their opening fixture.
Zambia bounce back
Zambia recovered from their opening-day defeat to Algeria by beating Togo 2-0 in Group I.
Albert Kangwanda opened the scoring after just three minutes, converting Fashion Sakala’s assist.
Substitute Eliya Mandanji then sealed the victory in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Zambia now have three points, while Togo remain on three points after beating Burundi in their opening match.
Uganda edge Libya
Co-hosts Uganda also recorded their first victory, defeating Libya 1-0 in Group H.
Arnold Vula scored the only goal in first-half stoppage time to give Uganda four points from their opening two matches.
Uganda had begun their campaign with a 1-1 draw away to Tunisia, while Libya remain on one point after their opening 2-2 draw with Botswana.
The 48 teams in the qualifiers are divided into 12 groups of four.
The highest-placed non-host nation will qualify from groups containing co-hosts Kenya, Tanzania or Uganda, with the three host countries already guaranteed places at the 2027 finals.
Tuesday’s results left Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia and Rwanda among the teams with perfect records, while Nigeria and Ghana will look to recover from their defeats in the next round of fixtures.
Matchdays 3 and 4 of the 2027 AFCON qualifiers will be played during the November 2026 FIFA international window, from November 9 to 17.
The qualifiers will resume with Matchdays 5 and 6 from March 22 to 30, 2027.