Round two of the CAF 2026 World Cup qualifiers sees Chad and Madagascar go head-to-head at the Municipal Stadium of Oujda on Monday evening.
The sides were both beaten in their respective opening qualifying fixtures last time out, and they will be eager to bounce back as soon as possible.
Match preview
Chad could not have asked for a worse start to their World Cup journey as they fell to a 3-1 defeat against Les Aigles of Mali at Stade du 26 Mars on Friday.
Djimtan Yatamadji's men trailed to Kamory Doumbia's opener on the stroke of half time but managed to restore parity through Marius eight minutes into the second period, after which quickfire goals from Youssoufou Niakate and Ibrahima Sissoko decided the game.
Consequently, Les Sao have now lost four of their last five matches and are without a win in 17 consecutive matches dating back to October 2019.
Coming up next is a first-ever meeting against an opposing outfit currently 71 places above in the latest FIFA rankings of all national teams.
Aiming to pick up what would be only a first win on home turf in four years, Monday's hosts are in urgent need of a pick-me-up as they look to get themselves back on track.
Madagascar were on the receiving end of a narrow 1-0 defeat against the Black Stars of Ghana when the teams faced off at the Baba Yara Stadium on Friday.
Romuald Rakotondrabe's men put on a solid defensive display and looked set to come away with a point before Inaki Williams struck a late winner.
Since kicking off the year with four straight victories, Barea have picked up just two wins from the subsequent nine matches across all competitions.
Having failed to score in three of their last four matches on the road, Monday's visitors will need to get going at the attacking end to stand any chance of coming away with a positive result here.
Team News
Marius recently opened his account for Chad in the defeat to Mali last time out, and the forward will be looking to pick up where he left off.
David Ramadingaye could be dropped to the bench for this one, with Hiver Amine primed to make his first international start since the turn of the year.
Adrien is set to retain his place in the Madagascar starting lineup after the goalkeeper's brilliant display in the game against Ghana.
Njiva Rakotoharimalala endured a frustrating day in front of goal in the aforementioned game, before which he was on a run of seven goals in as many matches.
Chad possible starting lineup:
Allabatna; Abdelrazak, Mbaigohmem, Abderamane, Djimhoue, Mbogo; Mbangossoum, Amine, Ngartolabaye; Marius, Mahamat
Madagascar possible starting lineup:
Adrien; Boto, Fontaine, Berajo, Metanire; Tsiry, Lapoussin, Ilaimaharitra, Raveloson, Bertrand; Rakotoharimalala
We say: Chad 0-1 Madagascar
Both teams have struggled on the offensive end of late, and we can see Monday's game yielding more of the same. That said, we are backing Madagascar to emerge victorious in the end, albeit by only a narrow margin.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
