2026 WCQ: Madagascar batter Central Africa to pile pressure on Ghana and Comoros

Madagascar reignited their World Cup hopes following a convincing 4-1 win over Central Africa Republic on Wednesday afternoon in their Group I clash from 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying.

Madagascar went down very early in the game when defender Hugo Gambor fired Central Africa ahead on the 9th minute but the lead was short lived when the Barea pulled level eight minutes later through Rayan Raveloson.

The visitors showed clearly that they had come for serious business when Raveloson increased Madagascar’s tally to 2-1 five minutes after finding the equalizer. The score remained at 2-1 separating the two sides into the first half break.

Corentin Martins’ charges returned for the second half of the game looking extremely better than Eloge Enza-Yamissi’s faithfuls, pinning them into their own half. The energy and verve from the visitors resulted into the third goal from the boot of Arnaud Randrianantenaina just nine minutes into the second half of the game.

Martins utilised key substitutions with Lalaina Rafanomezantsoa coming on to ice the cake for Madagascar in the 89th minute to put the game beyond the reach of Les Fauves.

Madagascar per the big victory have now jumped into first in Group I with 10 points from five matches, one better than Comoros and Ghana who will battle for first place on Friday, March 21.

Click here to watch highlights of the match

Group I Table

• The group winner qualifies for the 2026 FIFA World Cup
• Four of the nine group runners-up qualify for a playoff to determine Africa’s representative at the intercontinental qualifying playoff.