Comoros held on to beat Namibia 1:0 in their Group Stage - 2 fixture of the African Nations Cup qualifiers on Monday, 29 September 2026. Benjaloud Youssouf's second-half goal was enough to separate the sides in a match where chances were at a premium. The hosts had lost 1:3 to Cameroon just five days earlier, while Namibia were coming off a 1:0 victory over Congo.
There were no goals before the break, though the game had already seen a yellow card for Namibia's M. Shidolo in the fourteenth minute. Youssouf broke the deadlock in the fifty-third minute, and from then on the match settled into a rhythm of substitutions rather than clear-cut opportunities. The hosts brought on Yannis Kari just before the interval, while Namibia made three changes in the sixty-third minute alone.
The statistics told a story of Comoros controlling the tempo without necessarily dominating possession. They registered four shots on target compared to Namibia's three, and their accuracy rate of 31 per cent was notably higher than their opponents' 19 per cent. Possession was almost even at 52 per cent to 48, which is not uncommon in these qualifiers where the table goes out of the window in these games.
What stood out was the way Comoros created their chances. Seven shots fell inside the penalty area, and they managed eight corners to Namibia's three. The visitors had more shots off target — eleven — which suggests they were working from distance rather than cutting through. Comoros completed 341 passes from 412 attempts, while Namibia managed 290 from 359.
There was a second yellow card for Comoros, shown to Iyad Mohamed in the eighty-fifth minute, but neither side was reduced to ten men. The result keeps Comoros in contention for a place in the final tournament, and it ends a run of mixed form that included a goalless draw against Namibia back in March.
Namibia's away record in these qualifiers has been tough, with losses to Kazakhstan and a heavy defeat to Comoros in December 2025. They showed resilience against Congo on their last outing, but here they found themselves chasing the game after the break. To be fair, their goalkeeper made three saves to keep the score respectable, but it was never going to be easy against a side that had found a way through.
