Group B in the CAF World Cup qualifiers will get underway this week, with Sudan taking on Togo at the Martyrs of Benina Stadium on Thursday evening.
As has been the case for the last few months, the Sudan Football Association have decided to play their home games in Libya due to the ineligibility of Sudanese stadiums according to CAF standards.
Match preview
Sudan will begin their quest to reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup here after failing to qualify for the African Cup of Nations earlier in the year when they finished at the bottom of their group.
During that competition, the Secretarybirds recorded two wins and four losses in their six matches in a group that featured DR Congo, Mauritania and Gabon.
However, since then, Sudan have managed to avoid defeat in their last two friendly matches, holding Tanzania to a 1-1 draw before claiming a hard-fought 1-0 win against Chad last month.
While automatic qualification seems unlikely for the Sudanese, with Senegal expected to be the team to beat, second place - which earns a playoff spot - seems like a wide-open race.
Meanwhile, Togo will also not be heading to the Ivory Coast for the upcoming AFCON, though they did finish their qualification campaign well and will hope to bring that form into this competition.
The Sparrowhawks recorded eight points in that competition, drawing two and winning their final two qualifiers, beating Eswatini 2-0 before an excellent 3-2 win over Cabo Verde, where they had to come from 2-0 down.
Kevin Denkey scored a brace in that match with a goal on either side of the halftime whistle to pull his side level, while Abdou Ouattara got up to score the winner three minutes from time.
With those results, Togo are now riding a three-match winning streak and unbeaten in their last four, including a victory over Lesotho back in June and a 1-1 draw against Burkino Faso earlier in the year.
Team News
Ezzaki Badou chopped and changed his starting 11 significantly during the AFCON qualifiers, with only goalkeeper Mohamed Mustafa and Abuaagla Abdalla making two or more consecutive appearances.
Muhamed Kome, Waleed Al Shoala and Mohamed Abdelrahman scored Sudan's three goals in that competition, with the former likely to retain his place in midfield.
As for the visitors, Loic Anthony Bessile, Djene Dakonam and Alaixys Romao are expected to form the base of a 3-4-3 formation.
In attack, after scoring three in his last two games, Denkey will almost certainly lead the line alongside Ihlas Bebou and Euloge Placca.
Sudan possible starting lineup:
Mustafa; El Tahir, Ahmed, Nemer, Khames; Edris, Abdalla, Komi; Nouh, Teiri, Al-Shoala
Togo possible starting lineup:
Ouro-Gneni; Romao, Djene, Bessile; Henen, Aholou, Dermane, Amouzou; Denkey, Bebou, Fessou
We say: Sudan 1-2 Togo
While Sudan have experienced an uptick in results since their poor AFCON qualification campaign, there has been very little consistency in the starting 11, which could prove costly for them in this competition. Togo, on the other hand, seem fairly settled, especially in attacking positions, and we feel they will get off to a winning start in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Devesh Jaganath
