At Estadio do Zimpeto on Tuesday afternoon, Mozambique will host Guinea-Bissau with the goal of establishing themselves as contenders for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
The teams will meet in Maputo for the third time in the history of AFCON qualification after two 2-2 draws in the 2019 competition, in which only Guinea-Bissau advanced to the main tournament.
Following up their most recent international match, when they placed third in the COSAFA Cup, Mozambique opened the AFCON qualifiers with a strong away point against Mali on Friday.
Chiquinho Conde's team started the match strongly and was rewarded with a first-half lead thanks to Geny Catamo. However, in the opening minutes of the second half, Yves Bissouma tied the score.
Following an unimpressive AFCON performance earlier this year that resulted in their elimination at the group stage, Os Mambas have now won seven of their last eight games.
During that run, they defeated Guinea and Somalia back in June to qualify for the World Cup in successive years, and they now have nine points from their four games played thus far.
The hosts on Tuesday will be eager to get back to winning ways at home ahead of their doubleheader against Eswatini, the lowest-ranked club in Group I, next month. This will increase their hopes of qualifying for back-to-back continental championships for the first time since 1998.
In their first meeting of the season, Guinea-Bissau defeated the Sihlangu Semnikati of Eswatini 1-0 at Estadio 24 de Setembro, making home advantage matter.
After not scoring a goal since March, Luis Boa Morte's team's improbable victory came from midfielder Bura Nogueira, who broke the scoreless draw less than 15 minutes into the game.
The Djurtus started 2024 with five straight losses between January and March, but they have since won two of their last four games—two victories and two draws—to resurrect their World Cup qualifying campaign and have a strong start to continental competition.
But, Guinea-Bissau's journey to Maputo will mark their first away game in six months following four straight home games, so it will be intriguing to see how they perform in a hostile environment.
The visitors on Tuesday have lost all four of their previous road games by an average of 13–4, with their one road victory occurring in November 2023 against Djibouti.
