CAIRO: Ivory Coast, Senegal and South Africa completed the list of group winners in African qualification and CAF’s lineup of nine automatic qualifiers for next year’s World Cup finals in central and north America.

Ivory Coast beat Kenya 3-0 at home in Abidjan to finish one point ahead of Gabon in Group F, while Sadio Mane’s double put Senegal on course for a 4-0 win over Mauritania in Dakar and a two-point lead over runners-up Democratic Republic of Congo in Group B.

South Africa topped Group C, shrugging aside a three-point penalty but needing a helping hand from Nigeria to book their first World Cup appearance since hosting the 2010 finals.

South Africa beat Rwanda 3-0 in Nelspruit to finish first in Group C as Benin, who had a two-point lead going into the final round, tumbled from top to third after falling 4-0 by Nigeria, for whom Victor Osimhen grabbed a hat-trick.

Bafana Bafana qualified despite having had three points deducted last month after being found guilty of fielding a suspended player in an earlier qualifier in March.

Morocco and Tunisia qualified last month while Egypt and Algeria made sure of their progress with one round left to complete last week. Ghana and Cape Verde booked their places with home wins on Sunday and Monday respectively.

The completion of the group phase of the qualifiers also settled the four best runners-up — Cameroon, DR Congo, Gabon and Nigeria — who will playoff next month to decide a single winner to go on to the inter-continental playoffs in March where the last two World Cup berths will be decided.

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