Seychelles exits 2018 World Cup qualifiers after losing second leg match 2-0 against Burundi
Sport |Author: Betymie Bonnelame and Sharon Uranie | October 14, 2015, Wednesday @ 10:53| 6695 views
File Photo: Seychelles (in red) playing against Burundi at Stad Linite on Wednesday alst week. (Patrick Joubert, Seychelles News Agency)
(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles has once again failed to qualify for a spot in FIFA World Cup finals. The national football team’s attempt to qualify for the 2018 games in Russia ended on Tuesday after the Seychelles boys lost their second leg match against Burundi.
After losing 1-0 to the same team on home turf last week, the island nation could not reverse the score playing in Bujumbura on Tuesday, allowing Burundi to walk away with two goals.
Burundi’s Fiston Abdul Razak who plays for South African Club Mamelodi Sundowns scored both goals to give his team the 2-0 win.
This means Seychelles has suffered a 3-0 defeat on aggregate against eastern African side.
In the last World Cup 2014 qualifiers, Seychelles lost to another eastern African team, Kenya, on an aggregate score of 7-0, losing 3-0 in the first match and 4-0 in the return leg.
While the Indian Ocean archipelago has exited the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Burundi will now proceed to the next qualifying round, scheduled to take place between November 9 to 17, 2015.
In the second round, the 13 teams that make it past the first two-legged round will be joined by 27 other highest ranked teams on the continent.
The third and last round, which will feature the 20 winning teams divided in five teams of four will be played between October 3, 2017 to November, 14, 2017. This will see the five top African teams qualify for the World Cup finals.
The next important encounter for Seychelles, which is currently positioned 184th worldwide and 49th in Africa, according to the FIFA ranking is on March 26, 2016 when it will meet Lesotho in the African Cup of Nations (CAN) 2017 qualifiers.
The island nation has been drawn in Group J alongside Ethiopia, Algeria and Lesotho for the qualifying round of the competition.
The African Cup of Nations will be played in Gabon between the months of January and February 2017.