FIFA Series: Four matches, three wins for African nations

Monday saw African nations emerge triumphant in four fixtures from the FIFA Series around the world, with Gabon and Cape Verde winning in penalty kick shootouts while Kenya and Sierra Leone experienced mixed results.

2026 World Cup participants Cape Verde kicked off the series of victories for CAF nations on Monday at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand with a 4-2 penalty kick victory over Finland following a 1-1 draw.

Cape Verde end FIFA Series on positive note

Naatan Skyttä opened the scoring for the Scandinavian nation just before halftime but the Blue Sharks rallied in an even battle throughout the ninety minutes. Benfica defender Sidny Lopes Cabral impressed again by providing an assist for fellow defender Kelvin Pires to score his first international goal.

Pires, currently based at Finnish club SJK, leaped up to nod in Lopes Cabral’s corner kick in an impressive performance to give his chances of making the final World Cup roster a boost.

After a disappointing outing in a 2-4 defeat to Chile three days earlier, coach Bubista gave numerous players on the fringe of his squad an opportunity to impress with Lopes Cabral, Pires and goalkeeper Marcio Rosa making strong cases for their inclusions as well as experienced winger Garry Rodrigues.

Gabon are enduring recent struggles but finished their March FIFA Series fixtures on a strong note by overcoming Trinidad & Tobago 3-2 in penalties following a 2-2 draw in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Led by veterans Guelor Kanga and Didier Ndong, the Panthers achieved a satisfying result while giving a few younger players an opportunity to impress. Algeria-based forward Edlin Matouti scored his first goal for the national team, also assisting the opener from Kanga in the first half.

The Panthers were reduced to ten players soon after Matouti’s 54th minute long distance strike when Samaké Nzé was issued a second yellow card. Trinidad & Tobago star Levi Garcia equalized late with his second goal to add some suspense but the Soca Warriors lost their nerve in the penalty shootout, with Urie-Michel Mboula converting after Garcia rattled the crossbar.

Kenya recovered from a disappointing penalty shootout defeat to Estonia in Rwanda by bouncing back with a 3-0 victory over Grenada in Kigali. The Harambee Stars took advantage of an opponent that featured multiple part-time players to jump out to a two-goal lead inside the opening twenty minutes.

FT

🇬🇩 0-3 🇰🇪#FIFASeries #HarambeeStars pic.twitter.com/7dZwu1u4fF

— Harambee Stars (@Harambee__Stars) March 30, 2026

Austine Odhiambo and Ryan Ogam put the East Africans ahead early on before an own goal from the Caribbean team confirmed the decisive victory.

However, Sierra Leone came up just shy of upsetting hosts Azerbaijan in a penalty kick shootout defeat following a 1-1 draw in Sumqayit. Walsall forward Daniel Kanu put the Leone Stars in front in the first half but the hosts equalized late before an epic penalty shootout that saw Azerbaijan triumph 9-8 after Alpha Turay’s spot kick was saved.

It is the only fixture for the Leone Stars in March, after Oman were forced to withdraw from the series due to the ongoing war in Iran.

Rwanda will finish up Monday’s slate of matches from the FIFA Series when the hosts face off against Estonia in the final of their regional series.