Sudan have only featured once at the Afcon finals since 2013, and reaching the 2025 edition in Morocco would be all the more remarkable given the ongoing conflict in the country and the fact the side have been forced to hold their home qualifiers at neutral venues.

“It puts us on the brink of a historic qualification,” Sudanese journalist Abdul Musa told the BBC World Service.

“Everybody knows the situation back home, and it just shows that the togetherness, the chemistry within the team.”

Sudan will round off their Group F campaign with an away tie against Niger and a ‘home’ game against Angola next month.

Both matches are set to be at neutral venues as Niger do not have a stadium fit for international football.

“I think every African kid grew up watching the Africa Cup of Nations and wanting to be a part of it,” said former Bradford City and Grimsby Town man Eisa, who now plays in Thailand.

“Now that we’ve come so close to it, we still need to finish the business. But it’ll be a dream come true for me and for a lot of us.”

TOM BRADY 3 STARS OF THE WEEK

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German football expert Raphael Honigstein joins BBC Sport to discuss the attributes of new England head coach Thomas Tuchel.

Honigstein was speaking on The Football News Show on Tuesday, before Tuchel’s appointment was confirmed by the Football Association on Wednesday.

Watch The Football News Show on iPlayer

Former England captain Alan Shearer says the Three Lions “need a manager who can deliver a trophy” after German Thomas Tuchel agreed to become the next boss.

Tuchel, 51, is set to become the third non-British permanent manager of the England men’s team, with a media conference expected on Wednesday at Wembley.

Tuchel, who won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021, will be tasked with leading England to the 2026 World Cup, where they will hope to end a 60-year wait for a major trophy.

“We need a trophy – it’s as simple as that. We need a manager who can deliver that,” Shearer said on The Rest Is Football, external podcast.

“There’s no doubt [Tuchel] has an incredible CV, but this is going to be a very different test for him. It’s a bold move from the FA, there’s no doubt about it.

“You have to win the tournament, that’s what he’s been hired for. They [the FA] have seen the bunch of players are the best England have had for a long, long time.”

England have been without a permanent manager since Gareth Southgate resigned after eight years in charge following the Euro 2024 final defeat by Spain, with Lee Carsley appointed on an interim basis.

Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello are the only previous non-British permanent England men’s managers, but unlike his predecessors Tuchel is familiar with English football – having managed Chelsea between January 2021 and September 2022.

“Tuchel will have looked at this squad and thought there is so much talent in there, this is an unbelievable opportunity of winning the greatest trophy of all,” former England striker Gary Lineker said.

“I would have given the job to Carsley. I have seen enough to suggest the players really trust him, that he’s imaginative enough to produce something that is a joy to watch – entertaining front-footed football.”

Former England defender Micah Richards said: “The point is we don’t have an English candidate strong enough to take that job, that’s one of the most interesting things.

“I was of the opinion that we don’t need an English manager, just go out and get the best person for the job. I think Tuchel is an outstanding manager, a proven winner.”

Aaron Judge hit a two-run drive into Monument Park for his first home run of this postseason, and the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Guardians 6-3 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 AL Championship Series lead.

Judge, who entered with just one RBI in the playoffs, hit a sacrifice fly in a two-run second that put the Yankees ahead 3-0. With New York leading 4-2 in the seventh, the likely AL MVP drove a fastball at the letters from Hunter Gaddis 414 feet to center for his 14th career postseason home run.

Yankees’ Aaron Judge hits his first homer of the postseason, solidifying the win over the Guardians

In a matchup of aces who had off nights, Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee got just four outs in the shortest start of his professional career and an erratic Gerrit Cole was chased after four walks in 4 1/3 innings.

Winner Clay Holmes, Tim Hill and Tommy Kahnle combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings. José Ramírez hit a ninth-inning home run off Luke Weaver, just the second earned run New York’s bullpen has allowed over 23 1/3 innings in six postseason games.

After a day off, Game 3 is Thursday in Cleveland. The Yankees lead the ALCS 2-0 for the first time since 2009 against the Los Angeles Angels.

New York’s Gleyber Torres reached base leading off for the fifth time in the playoffs and had three hits. Anthony Rizzo had two hits and is 3-for-7 in two games since returning from a pair of fractured fingers that caused him to miss the Division Series.

Rookie shortstop Brayan Rocchio and right fielder Will Brennan committed run-scoring errors for the Guardians.

Rocchio dropped Judge’s first-inning popup, allowing Torres to score. After Cleveland closed to 3-2, Brennan bobbled the ball when he tried for a barehand pickup of Rizzo’s sixth-inning double that caromed off the low wall down the right-field line. Anthony Volpe, who had been on first, sprinted home.

Steven Kwan extended his Cleveland-record postseason hitting streak to 12 games.

Alex Verdugo had an opposite-field RBI double in the two-run second that glanced off a shoulder of left field umpire Vic Carapazza and went down the line.

Cleveland closed to 3-2 in the fifth when Josh Naylor hit a sacrifice fly and, after Holmes relieved with the bases loaded, Will Brennan grounded into a run-scoring forceout.

Cleveland went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners.

Cole escaped two-on, one-out trouble in the third and then a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fourth when pinch-hitter David Fry fouled out and Rocchio took a knuckle curve at the top of the strike zone for a called third strike in a nine-pitch at-bat.

Holmes struck out Austin Hedges on a low sinker to leave the bases loaded in the fifth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Guardians: RHP Alex Cobb was removed from the roster with a lower back strain sustained in the opener and replaced by RHP Ben Lively.

UP NEXT

Yankees RHP Clarke Schmidt starts Thursday at Cleveland. He allowed two runs and four hits over 4 2/3 innings in Division Series Game 3, wasting a 2-0 lead before New York won 3-2. He faced the Guardians once this year, pitching five scoreless innings before allowing a pair of runs — one unearned — in the sixth inning of a 3-2 victory.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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