Uganda vs Congo Republic

When Uganda hosts Congo at the Nelson Mandela National Stadium on Monday, they will be looking to win their first match of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.

Congo, on the other hand, travels with the goal of winning two straight after narrowly defeating South Sudan to all three points in their previous encounter.Uganda was eager to start their qualifying campaign with a win after missing the previous two AFCON tournaments. They came close to pulling off an upset against South Africa on the first day of play.

In the end, Paul Put's team had to settle for a share of the spoils in Pretoria, despite coming dangerously close to winning all three points at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Friday.

The Cranes trailed 1-0 after Lyle Foster's opening goal, but they fought back in the second half with goals from Denis Omedi and Rogers Mato Kassim, and Thalente Mbatha tied the score in stoppage time.The hosts on Monday have won only one of their last five matches in all competitions since beginning 2024 with a 1-0 friendly triumph over Kuwait. That one match was in June against Botswana.

However, Uganda's performance against South Africa will undoubtedly give some optimism going into Monday's matchup against a rival team that has only managed one victory in the previous five iterations of this match.

At Stade Alphonse Massemba-Debat on Thursday night, Congo's much-needed 1-0 victory over the Bright Stars of South Sudan marked the start of Group K play.

After taking over from his opponent in Monday's match, Paul Put, Isaac Ngata won for the third time at the third attempt after Massanga Matondo's goal within the first fifteen minutes settled the score.

That was the Red Devils' first victory in six games since they defeated South Sudan in an AFCON qualification match in March 2023. However, that victory was in vain, as they were unable to advance to the competition's finals.

Congo now have the opportunity to win back-to-back games for the first time since 2018. The team is still getting over a humbling 6-0 loss to Morocco in June's World Cup qualifier.