A 10-man Sudan team has defeated Lebanon 2-1 to qualify for the group stage of the FIFA Arab Cub 2025
. After all the three other teams from the CECAFA Zone South Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti had fallen out in the qualifying stage, coach James Kwesi Appiah’s team played their hearts out to advance.
Sudan’s John Robia was sent off for a second bookable offence after 24 minutes at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium in Qatar. Six minutes later Khalil Khamis gave Lebanon the lead after a failed clearance in the box.
The Sudan team reorganized and created some good scoring opportunities. Sudan’s Mohamad Haider scored an own goal two minutes to recess.
In the second half the Lebanon team with an advantage of a player more piled more pressure, but failed to find the net. Yasser Jolak scored for Sudan after 73 minutes to make it 2-1. The Sudan team defended in numbers till the final whistle.
Sudan now join Group D that also has defending champions Algeria, Iraq and Bharain. Sudan will also use the tournament to prepare ahead of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) slated for December 21st to January 18th, 2026 in Morocco.
In earlier matches involving teams from the CECAFA Zone, Oman edged Somalia 4-1 on penalties after the match had ended goalless, while Bahrain stopped Djibouti 1-0.
After the qualifying round, the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup, the 11th edition of the Arab Cup will officially take place December 1-18 in Qatar.
