January 22, (THEWILL) – Algeria secured a perfect record in their group-stage matches of the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship on Saturday night. They wrapped it up by edging out Mozambique 1-0 in the last match of Group A at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers.
With a raucous home crowd cheering them on, the hosts quickly took the lead through a goal from Hocine Dehiri in the 7th minute. The early goal seemed to throw Mozambique off balance and they retreated into a defensive stance. They slowly worked themselves back into the match, but were unable to score despite several attempts.
Algeria also had opportunities to increase their lead but did not convert them either. To their credit, they did enough to claim the win, securing top spot in their group and a spot in the quarter-finals of the competition.
They will now face the second-place team from Group B. Although Mozambique lost the match, they still advanced to the quarter-finals due to a concurrent match in which Libya defeated Ethiopia 3-1.
This result put Mozambique in second place in their group with four points, and they will face the Group C winners.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
