There was also a stalemate in the big east African derby between Kenya and Uganda, while Senegal put seven goals past a hapless Mauritius.

The biggest upset undoubtedly came in Garoua, though, where the Indomitable Lions were expected to gain all three points at home to the Leopards.

But they fell behind to a strike from West Ham defender Herita Ilunga after 37 minutes and had to rely on an own goal from Miala Nkulukutu 10 minutes after the break to rescue a point in a 1-1 draw.

The result means that Javier Clemente's team drop down to second in Group E, behind the Senegalese, who made light work of their match against the Mauritians.

Papiss Cisse (eight, 38 and 76) bagged a hat-trick and Mamadou Niang (22 and 62) a brace, while further efforts from Moussa Sow (45) and Demba Ba (90) completed the rout in Dakar

Kenya continue to prop up Group J after failing to beat regional rivals Uganda in Nairobi.

The match ended in a goalless draw meaning the Harambee Stars now face a tough task to reach the finals in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea after claiming just a point from their opening two games.

They lost the first match 1-0 to Guinea-Bissau, who were themselves beaten today by the same scoreline against Angola in the other group game.

The only goal in that game coming from the penalty spot after 23 minutes - Gilberto ending up as the match-winner in Luanda.

Mali claimed their first points in Group A, with Abdou Traore putting them in front as early as the second minute against Liberia in Bamako.

Theo Lewis (43) equalised for the visitors, but Dramane Traore (52) restored the advantage as the hosts held on.

Tiago Josemar scored in stoppage time in Mitsamiouli to help Mozambique move top of Group C, at least for the next 24 hours, thanks to a 1-0 win over Comoros.

The southern Africans move to four points, one more than Zambia, who are away to Libya tomorrow.

In Dar Es Saalam, Ajax striker Mounir El Hamdaoui (43) was the hero with his goal shortly before half-time handing the Moroccans a 1-0 win over Tanzania.

It helped the Atlas Lions gain their first victory of the campaign after a draw in their opening game.

Ivory Coast had to work hard to maintain their 100% start to qualifying with Ndri Romaric (34) grabbing the only goal in a 1-0 scoreline against Burundi.

The win put the World Cup finalists top of Group H ahead of Benin, who thrashed Rwanda 3-0 in Kigali.

Group F has new leaders following Burkina Faso's 3-1 win over previous leaders Gambia in their opening game of the campaign.

Finally, Malawi climbed to second in Group K thanks to a crushing 6-2 win over Chad in Blantyre.

Chiukepo Msowoya (10 and 70) and Essau Kanyenda (20 and 80) both hit two apiece, with Jimmy Zakazaka (67) and Robert Ng'ambi (85) completing the scoring.

Marius Mbaiam (30) and Ezekiel Ndouassel (90) responded for the visitors, who have now conceded 12 goals in their four qualifiers.