Fresh off the back of a friendly defeat to DR Congo, Uganda return to the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers when they square off against Algeria on Sunday.

The Greens head into the weekend as one of just three sides with a 100% record in the qualifiers and will journey to the Japoma Stadium looking to make it five wins from five in Group F.

Match preview

After a woeful start to their qualifying campaign, Uganda rekindled their quest for a first Africa Cup of Nations appearance since 2019 when they picked up a 1-0 victory over Tanzania on March 28.

Rogers Mato Kassim grabbed the headlines in that encounter as the midfielder came off the bench to hand the Cranes a 91st-minute winner at the Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium.

Prior to that, Uganda failed to win twice opening three games in the qualifiers, suffering defeats against Algeria and Tanzania either side of a 1-1 draw with Niger back in June 2022.

With four points from a possible 12, Milutin Sredojevic's men are currently second in Group F, level with second-placed Tanzania and two points above rock-bottom Niger.

Uganda returned to action on Wednesday when they fell to a 1-0 friendly defeat at the hands of DR Congo courtesy of a first-half penalty from Cadiz man Theo Bongonda.

Algeria, on the other hand, endured a truly forgettable campaign in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations as they were condemned to a shock group-stage exit.

Djamel Belmadi's men failed to win any of their three matches in Group E, finishing rock-bottom in the standings after picking up just one point from a possible 12.

However, the two-time AFCON winners have secured an immediate return to the continental showpiece following wins in each of their four qualifying matches so far.

Algeria kicked off their quest for a place in Ivory Coast in June 2022, when they edged out Uganda 2-0 at the Stade du 5 Juillet, four days before picking up a 2-0 victory over Tanzania in Dar es Salaam.

This was followed by two successive wins over Niger in March's double-header, as they picked up a 2-1 victory on home soil, before beating the Mena 1-0 four days later courtesy of an early strike from Baghdad Bounedjah.

Algeria are one of just three sides with a 100% record in the qualifiers, alongside Morocco and Senegal, and hold a healthy eight-point lead at the top of Group F.

Team News

Despite the defeat to DR Congo, we expect Sredojevic to name a similar side this weekend, meaning that we could see an unchanged back four of Aziz Kayondo, Halid Lwaliwa, Fred Gift and 20-year-old Kenneth Semakula.

Veteran striker Emmanuel Okwi, who is the Cranes' all-time leading scorer with 28 goals in 93 appearances, should spearhead the attack once again, alongside 25-year-old Fahad Bayo.

Belmadi has named a star-studded 26-man squad for Sunday's game and next week's friendly against Tunisia, including the likes of Islam Slimani and treble winner Riyad Mahrez.

Said Benrahma, who scored the opener in West Ham United's 2-1 victory over Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final, has also been called up, while 18-year-old Badredine Bouanani is the younger player in the Greens' camp.

Newly-signed Roma midfielder Houssem Aouar is in contention for his first appearance for Algeria after recently switching allegiances from the France setup.

Uganda possible starting lineup:
Salim; Kayondo, Lwaliwa, Gift, Semakula; Mato, Bobosi, Mugulusi, Miya; Okwi, Bayo

Algeria possible starting lineup:
M'Bolhi; Leris, Touba, Mandi, Bensebaini; Bentaleb, Boudaoui; Benrahma, Aouar, Mahrez; Slimani

We say: Uganda 0-2 Algeria

While Uganda will look to take the positives from their performance against DR Congo, they face a rampant Algeria side who are firing on all cylinders in the qualifiers. The Greens boast a significantly superior and more experienced squad and we anticipate them claiming all three points in this one.

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