Guirassy and Guinea ease past Somalia to keep World Cup hopes alive

Guinea are still in the race to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after Serhou Guirassy and the Syli National defeated Somalia 3-0 on Friday.

The Borussia Dortmund star opened the scoring in the 22nd minute to put Guinea on the front foot and avenge a shock 0-0 draw against the East African minnows back in March. A second half own goal put the Guineans beyond reach when Somalia goalkeeper Abdirahman Maman punched a cross off his own defender and in for an own goal. Substitute Ousmane Camara added one more goal in the final seconds.

The Somalians did create some danger and were rather unfortunate to not equalize earlier in the second half. Handwalla Bwana produced an excellent finish and ran off to celebrate but the referee had whistled for a foul only moments earlier. The ball had been tackled away but fell kindly to Bwana to finish, marking a mistake by the referee for failing to wait and allow the advantage for Somalia.

Guinea are firmly in contention to finish as runners-up in Group G, sitting only two points behind Mozambique who play in Kampala later on Friday for a tough match against Uganda. Algeria lead Mozambique by six points following Thursday’s victory over Botswana.

Group G Table

1. Algeria- 18 points (7 matches played)
2. Mozambique- 12 points (6 matches)
3. Guinea- 10 points (7 matches)
4. Botswana- 9 points (7 matches)
5. Uganda- 9 points (6 matches)
6. Somalia- 1 point (7 matches)