South Africa suffered a shock 3-0 loss to visiting Lesotho on Sunday to bow out of qualifying for the 2020 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Cameroon.
With clubs refusing to release players as the game clashed with the opening day of South Africa’s Premier Soccer League the hosts were forced to field a young, makeshift side.
Despite fielding under-strength side South Africa were expected to overturn the 3-2 loss away in the first leg of the tie last weekend.
Instead Lesotho scored three second-half goals to compete a 6-2 aggregate win and book a date with Zimbabwe to qualify for the finals in Cameroon next year.
After a goaless first half it was Jane Thaba Ntso with two goals and Hlompho Kalake that secured the win.
Kenya were another casualty after losing 4-1 on penalties in Nairobi following a second 0-0 draw with east African neighbours Tanzania in successive weekends.
Erasto Nyoni, Paulo Nyanganya, Gadiel Michael and Salim Hamis converted spot-kicks for the visitors while only Clifton Miheso was on target for Kenya.
The match attracted a 30,000 crowd to the Kasarani Stadium after Kenyan officials slashed ticket prices up to 80 percent to 100 shillings ($0.96/0.86 euros).
Togo ended an 11-year wait for a first CHAN qualifying win when they edged Benin 1-0 in Lome through a Marouf Tchakei goal on 70 minutes.
It was the only goal of the two-leg tie and earned Togo a crack at 2018 runners-up Nigeria in the final qualifying round during September and October.
In another close encounter, Madagascar needed away goals to squeeze past Mozambique after losing 3-2 in Maputo.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, the Mozambicans raced to a three-goal half-time lead through a Luis Miquissone brace and one goal from Dayo Antonio.
But Madagascar netted twice early in the second half via Arnaud Randrianantenaina and Lalaina Nomenjanahary to book a showdown with Namibia.
Prince Dube emulated Ugandan Patrick Kaddu by scoring a second leg hat-trick, which gave Zimbabwe a 3-1 win over Mauritius in Bulawayo and a 7-1 overall success.
Previous editions have been won by the DR Congo (twice), Tunisia, Libya and Morocco.
African Nations Championship (CHAN) second round second leg results:
West A zone:
Mali 3-0 Guinea-Bissau (Mali win 7-0 on aggregate)
Senegal 3-0 Liberia (Senegal win 3-1 on aggregate)
Mauritania 2-1 Cape Verde 1 (Mauritania win 2-1 on aggregate)
West B zone:
Togo 1-0 Benin (Togo win 1-0 on aggregate)
Central zone:
Equatorial Guinea 2-1 Chad 1 (Equatorial Guinea win 5-4 on aggregate)
Central/East zone:
Ethiopia 4-3 Djibouti (Ethiopia win 5-3 on aggregate)
Kenya 0-0 Tanzania (Aggregate: 0-0, Tanzania win 4-1 on penalties)
South Sudan 1-2 Burundi 2 (Burundi win 4-1 on aggregate)
Uganda 4-1 Somalia (Uganda win 7-2 on aggregate)
South zone:
Mozambique 3-2 Madagascar (Aggregate: 3-3, Madagascar win on away goals)
Namibia 0-0 Comoros (Namibia win 2-0 on aggregate)
South Africa 0-3 Lesotho (Lesotho win 6-2 on aggregate)
Zimbabwe 3-1 Mauritius (Zimbabwe win 7-1 on aggregate)
Zambia 3-2 Botswana (Zambia win 3-2 on aggregate)
Angola 1-1 Eswatini (Aggregate: 2-2, Eswatini win 5-4 on penalties)
Final qualifying round matches:
North zone:
Algeria v Morocco, holders
Tunisia v Libya
West A zone:
Mali v Mauritania
Senegal v Guinea
West B zone:
Togo v Nigeria
Niger v Ivory Coast
Ghana v Burkina Faso
Central zone:
Central African Republic v DR Congo
Equatorial Guinea v Congo Brazzaville
Central/East zone:
Burundi v Uganda
Ethiopia v Rwanda
Tanzania v Sudan
South Zone:
Eswatini v Zambia
Madagascar v Namibia
Zimbabwe v Lesotho
(First legs: 20-22 Sept Second legs 18-20 Oct)
Source:Â bbc.com