Cameroon in danger of missing another African Cup

Ivory Coast came from 1-0 and 2-1 down to beat Senegal 4-2 in the first leg of their tie. Ghana beat Malawi 2-0.

Cameroon lost 2-0 and is in danger of missing out on its second straight African Cup ahead of decisive second-leg matches in October. Just seven months after lifting the trophy in Gabon, Zambia entered qualifying for next year's tournament in South Africa with a 1-0 home win over Uganda through a first-half goal by captain Christopher Katongo.

After eliminating seven-time winner Egypt in the last round, Central African Republic is one game away from a long-awaited place at the Cup of Nations after a 1-0 victory in its home leg against Burkina Faso. Nigeria was held to 2-2 in Liberia.

Elsewhere, Mali beat Botswana 3-0, strikers Daniel Cousin and Emmanuel Adebayor scored as Gabon and Togo drew 1-1, Sierra Leone and Tunisia drew 2-2 and Sudan beat Ethiopia 5-3 as the last round of qualifiers began with 10 first-leg matches. The remaining five ties kick off on Sunday as 30 teams battle over two legs for a place at the 16-team African Cup alongside host South Africa.

Without captain and leading striker Samuel Eto'o, who has refused to return to international duty after a lengthy ban, Cameroon lost against a team that was once ranked well below the four-time African champion. Now, only four places separate the slumping 61st-ranked Cameroon and Cape Verde in the FIFA rankings and the Indomitable Lions have a two-goal deficit to overturn back at home if they are to avoid joining Egypt as another high-profile absentee at the continental championship.