Ghana news briefing
Why Zambia was eliminated from WAFCON 2026 despite scoring 8 goals, as Nigeria and Malawi advance
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It meant Malawi finished top of the mini-league, Nigeria second, and Zambia third, and that ranking was then carried over directly to decide the final positions in the full Group C table, regardless of the fact that Zambia's overall goal difference across all three matches was far superior to either side above them.
Had Zambia scored even one more goal across their two matches against Malawi and Nigeria, they would have finished level with Malawi on four goals apiece in the mini-league, sending the tiebreak to the next stage and potentially changing the outcome entirely.
Once three teams are level, as happened with Malawi, Nigeria and Zambia, CAF does not move straight to overall goal difference at all.
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