Senegal and Cape Verde are the first two teams to advance to the knockout phase of the ongoing 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after securing wins in their respective matches on Friday.

At the Charles Konan Banny Stadium in Yamoussoukro, the defending African champions, Senegal’s Lions of Teranga, secured an impressive 3-1 win over the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, becoming Group C runaway winners.

Ismaila Sarr opened the scoring for Senegal in the 16th minute with a right-footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner.

Senegal scored a second through Habibou Diallo with his 71st close-range goal. Jean-Charles Castelletto pulled one back for Cameroon in the 83rd minute, but Sadio Mane scored in stoppage time to seal the win for Senegal.

With one game to spare, Senegal are the runaway winner of Group C with six points, while Guinea and Cameroon have one point each, and Gambia have none.

Guinea and Gambia will face each other in their second Group C game later today.

Earlier in the day, former Manchester United forward Bebé scored a screamer of a free kick from the middle of the pitch as Cape Verde thrashed Mozambique 3-0 to advance to the knockout round.

Bebé’s long-range effort opened the scoring for Cape Verde in the 32nd minute before Ryan Mendes doubled the lead for the Blue Sharks six minutes after the break.

In the 69th minute, Kevin Lenini added Cape Verde’s goal with a blazing shot, which was more than enough for the West African country to reach the knockout stage ahead of Ghana and Egypt.

Cape Verde now has six points, Egypt has two points, and Ghana and Mozambique each have one point.