The third round of matches in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers sees Central African Republic and Chad face off at the Municipal Stadium on Oujda on Wednesday.
Both teams still await their first World Cup qualifying victory heading into this one, and neither of them will want to come away empty-handed.
Match preview
Central African Republic cruised to a routine 4-0 victory over Papua New Guinea when the teams locked horns at the Colombo Racecourse on March 25.
Raoul Savoy's men took the lead early on through Christian-Theodor Yawanendji-Malipangou, after which Tieri Godame sealed the deal with a hat-trick.
Consequently, Les Fauves have now won two straight games by a combined score of 10-0, although they still await a first competitive victory since March 2023.
Awaiting them next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who currently sit 48 places below in the latest FIFA rankings of all national teams.
Unbeaten in front of their fans since 2021, Wednesday's hosts go in search of another positive home result as they look to get their World Cup dream back on track.
Chad made it past the first round of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers thanks to a 3-1 aggregate victory over Mauritius on March 26.
Having scraped a 1-0 triumph in the first leg, Kevin Nicaise's men claimed a 2-1 win in the return fixture thanks to strikes from Amine Hiver and Ousmane Hissein Hassan, which completed a second-half turnaround off the back of Jeremy Villeneuve's opener.
Prior to that, Les Sao were beaten in quick succession by Mali and Madagascar, leaving them bottom of Group I, a point shy of their next opponents.
Having recently ended their winless run on the road, Wednesday's visitors will be looking to record consecutive away wins for the first time in over a decade.
Team News
Fresh from opening his international account for Chad at only the second time of asking, Ousmane Hissein Hassan is expected to retain his place in the XI.
Amine Hiver has been in immense goalscoring form at club level of late, and the forward is definitely one to keep a close watch on here.
CAR's Tieri Godame had a debut to remember against Papua New Guinea as he grabbed a hat-trick which could see him handed a second straight cap.
Louis Mafouta, the hosts' record goalscorer, recently racked up a personal-best 15 league strikes last season and the 29-year-old will be looking to push on from where he left off.
Central African Republic possible starting lineup:
Youfeigane; Tatolna, Ndoba, Youga, Solet; Pirioua, Kondogbia; Toropite, Koyalipou, Namnganda; Mafouta
Chad possible starting lineup:
Allah-Batnan; Abderamane, Mbaigolmem, Djimhoue, Djimhotoum; Mbangossoum, Ramadingaye, Aboubakar; Djibrine, Hissein, Hiver
We say: Central African Republic 1-0 Chad
The sides have found a little form of late and will both fancy their chances of coming away with maximum points here. That said, we just about fancy the hosts to carry the day at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
