Walias Fall 1-0 to Sudan in AFCON 2027 Opener

John Garang Mausoleum Square in Juba, South Sudan. This is not Juba Stadium and not the September 25 match. Photo: Jens Klinzing / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Ethiopia’s national team, the Walias, lost 1-0 to Sudan on Friday, September 25, 2026, in a Group J match of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Ethiopian Monitor reported the game from the South national Stadium in Juba. Africa Soccer and Sports Mole called the ground Juba National Stadium, and the 11v11 match record lists Juba Stadium, Juba. The photograph shows John Garang Mausoleum Square in Juba. It does not show the stadium, and it does not show the match.

Ethiopian Monitor wrote that the teams reached half-time without a goal and stayed level for much of the second half. The outlet wrote that Ethiopia “resisted Sudan’s attempts to find a breakthrough.” It reported that Mohamed Eisa scored in the 86th minute. Foot Africa also reported that single goal in the 86th minute. It called the match tight for a long time, and it wrote that Sudan finished matchday one at the top of Group J.

A penalty in one report, a goal in others

Africa Soccer described the goal as a penalty. It wrote that Sudan received the kick in the 86th minute after an Ethiopian defender mistimed a challenge in the box. It wrote that Eisa sent the goalkeeper the wrong way. Ethiopian Monitor, Foot Africa, and the 11v11 goal list reported Eisa’s 86th-minute goal and did not call it a penalty.

The 11v11 record lists Kwesi Appiah as Sudan’s manager and Yohannes Sahle as Ethiopia’s manager. It names Washington Dolo as the referee and gives a 6:00 p.m. local kickoff. It lists yellow cards for Ethiopia’s Mesfin Tafesse in the 55th minute, Samuel Yohannes in the 81st, Gathuoch Panom in the 83rd, and Bereket Samuel in the 85th. It also lists a yellow card for Sudan’s Abdel Raouf in added time, and it names Yared Bayeh as Ethiopia’s captain.

Group J after matchday one

In the other Group J match, Ethiopian Monitor reported a 1-1 draw between Mozambique and Senegal. It wrote that Nicolas Jackson scored for Senegal in the 32nd minute and that Geny Catamo equalized in added time before half-time. Foot Africa placed that draw in Maputo and called it Patrick Vieira’s first match in charge of Senegal. After the two games, Ethiopian Monitor put Sudan first with three points, Senegal and Mozambique level on one point each, and Ethiopia last with zero.

The home match that followed, and the preliminary round before it

Ethiopian Monitor wrote that Ethiopia’s next Group J match was at home against Senegal on Tuesday, September 29, and that Mozambique would host Sudan the same day. Sports Mole, in a September 27 preview by Joshua Ojele, set that Senegal match at Bahir Dar International Stadium. In that preview Ojele wrote that Senegal “boast one of the strongest squads on the continent.” That sentence is the preview’s judgment, not a match result.

Before the group stage, Soccer Ethiopia reported that Ethiopia beat São Tomé and Príncipe 1-0 on March 31, 2026, in the second leg at Diredawa Stadium. It wrote that Chernet Gugsa scored in the seventh minute from a cross by Mesfin Tafesse, and that the win completed a 4-0 aggregate. It wrote that the match was the team’s first game in front of home supporters since September 2021. Sports Mole reported a 3-0 first leg on March 27 and the same 1-0 return leg at Dire Dawa International Stadium, for a 4-0 aggregate. The loss in Juba was a match of the group stage, after that preliminary round, not the first match of Ethiopia’s qualifying path.

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