AFCON 2025: Uganda Cranes take on Congo Brazzaville today at Namboole

Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers 2025

Group K

Today

Uganda v Congo Brazzaville

Kickoff is at 7pm

Mandela National Stadium, Namboole.

Tomorrow

South Sudan v South Africa

At 4pm in Juba

If Uganda is to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals to be hosted by Morocco, winning all their home group matches should be a must.

Today, under the floodlights of Mandela National Stadium Namboole, the Cranes host Congo Brazzaville in their second Group K match.

The Cranes will be aiming for nothing but all three points after a disappointing Friday night in Johannesburg when they conceded an equalizer in stoppage to draw 2-2 with South Africa in their opening match inside Orlando Stadium.

On the other hand, Congo secured a 1-0 home win over South Sudan in Brazzaville and is currently top of this group with three points, Uganda and South Africa are on a point each.

Cranes coach Paul Put was not happy with how his players expressed themselves against South Africa in the first half. They made so many childish mistakes only to be saved by the wasteful opposition attackers; otherwise, they could have lost by 4-0.

Against Congo, the Belgian tactician does not want to see a repeat of that and instead, he wants them to polish their second-half performance against South Africa which was better than the first half and if they can do that, he is very confident, they will take three points.

Khalid Aucho, the Cranes captain, reported that the draw against South Africa was both painful and enjoyable. This is because they conceded late when they should have taken the three points, but on the other hand, a point away from home against the mighty South Africa cannot be considered a bad result.

Therefore, he adds that such a result motivated them greatly, and everyone was ready to give their best to see that they finished the day with three points.

“We conceded a late equalizer which denied us our three points but that is football, two points were lost, though that point we got was not bad really against South Africa. Now our focus is on Congo, we need to win this match to be in a good position to dream about qualifying.” Aucho said after yesterday’s training session.

Striker Muhammad Shaban missed the opening game due to an injury he picked in training, but he trained yesterday and should Put need his services, he is available for selection.

Uganda’s goal scorers against South Africa Rogers Mato and Denis Omedi are expected to start against Congo.

Kenneth Ssemakula and Halid Lwaliwa who missed the trip to Johannesburg due to visa issues, are also available for selection.

Also, it is important to note that Uganda will be playing its first Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match at Mandela National Stadium Namboole for the first time in nearly six years. Their last match was a 2-0 win over Malawi in 2019.

Uganda has been hosting a majority of its home matches abroad during the time that Namboole has been under renovation following CAF's dismissing it for not meeting the required standards at that time.