Madagascar beat Ethiopia 1-0 in Antananarivo on Saturday to get their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign off to a solid start.
In the first match of Group K, the contest was settled by a solitary goal from Rayan Raveleson in the 19th minute.
Madagascar made their debut at the 2019 Nations Cup finals in Egypt.
They famously beat Nigeria on their way to reaching the quarter-finals before losing to Tunisia.
The win over Ethiopia on Saturday was particularly poignant for Madagascar striker Faneva Andriatsima who had already confirmed that he would retire from international football after the qualifier.
The 35-year-old, who plays for Saudi Arabian club Abha, is Madagascar’s all-time leading goal-scorer with 14 goals in 42 appearances.
Later on Saturday, Ivory Coast were set to host Niger in the other Group K match.
The top two sides in 11 of the 12 groups will all advance to the 2021 finals in Cameroon.
Cameroon qualify for the finals as hosts but are taking part in the qualifying campaign to gain competitive match practice which means just one team from Group F will progress to the finals.
2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying results:
Saturday:
- Madagascar 1-0 Ethiopia (Group K)
- Ivory Coast v Niger (Group K)
Friday:
- Morocco 0-0 Mauritania (Group E)
- Zimbabwe 0-0 Botswana (Group H)
- Tanzania 2-1 Equatorial Guinea (Group J)
- Tunisia 4-1 Libya (Group J)
Thursday:
- Mali 2-2 Guinea (Group A)
- Ghana 2-0 South Africa (Group C)
- DR Congo 0-0 Gabon (Group D)
- Mozambique 2-0 Rwanda (Group F)
- Egypt 1-1 Kenya (Group G)
- Togo 0-1 Comoros (Group G)
- Algeria 5-0 Zambia (Group H)
Wednesday:
- Namibia 2-1 Chad (Group A)
- Malawi 1-0 South Sudan (Group B)
- Burkina Faso 0-0 Uganda (Group B)
- Sudan 4-0 Sao Tome and Principe (Group C)
- Angola 1-3 The Gambia (Group D)
- CAR 2-0 Burundi (Group E)
- Cameroon 0-0 Cape Verde (Group F)
- Guinea Bissau 3-0 Eswatini (Group I)
- Senegal 2-0 Congo (Group I)
- Nigeria 2-1 Benin (Group L)
- Sierra Leone 1-1 Lesotho (Group L)
source: BBC
