Teranga Lions of Senegal have booked a ticket to defend their African Cup of Nations title at the 34th edition of the biennial tournament to be hosted in Ivory Coast next year.

Boulaye Dia’s eighteenth-minute goal sealed the important victory for Senegal who have now secured 12 points needed to qualify for next year’s AFCON from four games and four straight victories.

Ivory Coast automatically qualify as the hosts, and the Atlas Lions of Morocco who continued their impressive run after the 2022 FIFA world cup in Qatar, have also secured a ticket for the Ivory Coast 2023 AFCON.

Algeria also qualified after four straight wins from four matches.

Nigeria, Namibia, Cameroon, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Mali, South Africa, Gambia, Central African Republic, and Zambia all have the chance to make it to the biennial tournament in Cote D’Ivoire but may have to wait till the last qualifying matches.

The next phase of qualifiers is scheduled for June.