Sierra Leone qualified for the Total Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 25 years after beating Benin 1-0 in Conakry on Tuesday.
Centre forward Kei Kamara scored the winning goal from the penalty spot and the side held on for a famous victory that takes them back to Afcon for the first time since 1996.
The match had been twice postponed due to Coronavirus-related issues after either country wasn’t happy with the test results.
Sierra Leone now joins Group L winners Nigeria to complete the full set of 24 teams to play in Cameroon.
Sierra Leone needed to beat Benin – who required just a point – to seal second place behind Group L winners Nigeria.
The fixture from which Benin needed just a point to seal qualification could have been played on March 30 but was postponed over disputes over players returning positive Covid-19 tests.
2021 Qualified Teams: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone
Meanwhile, Uganda’s national football team, the Cranes, failed to clinch a place for the AFCON 2021 after a narrow loss to Malawi 1-0 in the final qualifier match played in Blantyre. Malawi joined Burkina Faso in group B, displacing Uganda that held the second position after a draw to Burkinafaso at home in Kampala
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