SATURDAY

ETHIOPIA             3-1          CONGO                3pm

Ethiopia play some good football in the qualifier. They are that side that made it to Brazil 2014 only to be disqualified. Although starting a two-leg qualifier at home is considered disadvantageous, the Ethiopians can win carry a comfortable cushion to Brazzaville with a good home showing and that is what will be on the cards today.

SWEDEN  0-2  DENMARK               10pm

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is as showy on the pitch as he is with his mouth, but will the failure in the playoffs for 2014 World Cup return to haunt him when they play Denmark for a place at Euro 2016? Zlatan is 34, the age at which most people would have retired from international football, but he was last week voted Swedish Player of the Year for the tenth time. Are things that bad in Sweden? Denmark will try to find out for us. 

UKRAINE  0-2  SLOVENIA              7pm

This will be the sixth time Ukraine goes for a playoff. Five times, they have come up short. One painful moment, they fell to none other than the Slovenes, whose 1-1 draw at Kyiv ensured Andriy Shevchenko was all tears. Ukraine have yet to overcome Slovenia in four games – two draws and two defeats – which includes losing out to the Slovenes in the play-offs for Euro 2000. Srecko Katanec is the same coach that masterminded that famous win, while his current assistant Aleš Ceh captained the national team in then.

TANZANIA  0-2   ALGERIA             5.30pm

Tanzania are currently EAC’s least inspiring soccer nation and it does not help that they are facing a North African side currently ranked best on the continent. The last time Tanzania faced North Africans, it was bad news as Egypt overran them. And that was just a few months ago. Repeat.

SUNDAY

HUNGARY  2-2   NORWAY             10pm

A draw will guarantee Hungary a place in Euro 2016 after a 1-0 away win in first leg.

OTHER FIXTURES

UGANDA              2-1          TOGO

ZAMBIA                0-2          SUDAN

DR CONGO         5-1          BURUNDI

E GUINEA             0-0          MOROCCO

GUINEA                2-0          NAMIBIA

jacobs.seaman@newtimes.co.rw