Burkina Faso stun Tunisia in World Cup qualifier

Late substitute Youssouf Kone scored twice in four minutes to give Burkina Faso a sensational 2-1 away win over Tunisia Sunday in a 2010 World Cup-African Nations Cup qualifier.

The Carthage Eagles of Tunisia competed at the previous three World Cup tournaments and are ranked 10 in Africa, 20 places above the Stallions of Burkina Faso.

Tijani Belaid put Tunisia ahead on 38 minutes in the Group 9 Rades showdown and they appeared set for a narrow victory until Norway-based Kone burst on the scene.

He replaced Soumalia Tassembedo with 10 minutes left and beat goalkeeper Hamdi Kasraoui on 84 and 87 minutes to turn the match on its head and give Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte a dream competitive debut.

Burkina Faso have won only one of 16 other World Cup qualifers and that was 32 years ago in Mauritania while Tunisia were suffering only their third home loss in 37 qualifying matches.

The result puts unexpected early pressure on Tunisia coach Roger Lemerre ahead of a June 30 departure when his contract ends and he succeeds fellow Frenchman Henri Michel in charge of Morocco.

Former African champions Tunisia are away next weekend to the Seychelles and the Indian Ocean islanders also upset the form book by forcing a 0-0 away draw against Burundi in the other group encounter.

Egypt, who lifted the Nations Cup a record sixth time this year, had to come from behind in Group 12 to defeat the Democratic Republic of Congo 2-1 with Ahmed Abdelmalek snatching the 80th-minute winner.

France-based midfielder Herita Ilunga put the Congolese 'Leopards' ahead one minute before half-time and striker Amr Zaki levelled midway through the second half at the Cairo Stadium.

Ghana, third behind Egypt and Cameroon when they hosted the 2008 Nations Cup, swept aside Libya 3-0 in a Group 5 clash in Kumasi via goals from Prince Tagoe, Junior Agogo and Laryea Kingston.

The sight of the ball hitting the net thrice was particularly sweet for Sellas Tettah, acting coach after Frenchman Claude le Roy did not renew his contract, as Ghana struggled to score for most of the African tournament.

Ivory Coast, lacking injured first-choice strikers Didier Drogba and Aruna Dindane, needed 75 minutes to break Mozambique when Sekou Cisse scored what proved the only goal of the Group 7 match in Abidjan.

Nigeria hosted 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa in a Group 4 clash billed the match of the weekend, but it proved a damp squib with the home team cruising to a 2-0 victory at a half-full National Stadium in Abuja.

The Nigerian 'Super Eagles' exposed the aerial shortcomings of the Bafana Bafana (The Boys) defence as Ikechukwu Uche headed home a John Utaka cross on 10 minutes and Obinna Nwaneri repeated the feat from a corner before half-time.

South Africa were woeful under new Brazilian coach Joel Santana and looked further away than ever from creating a team capable of holding their own against the best in the world two years from now.

Bafana Bafana qualify automatically for the World Cup as hosts, but must compete in the preliminaries because they double as qualifiers for the 2010 Nations Cup to be staged by Angola for the first time.

Angola, shock qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup at the expense of Nigeria, took their time before outplaying Benin 3-0 in Luanda through goals from Flavio Amado, debutant 'Job' and 'Mendonca'.

Bamako witnessed a goal feast as Mali defeated Congo 4-2 with Seydou Keita setting the tone by scoring after just two minutes only for Mickalad Mouithys to level three minutes later.

Adama Coulibaly, Soumaila Coulibaly and Keita were on target to give Mali a comfortable advantage before Mouithys scored a late consolation goal for the Congolese 'Red Devils'.