Burundi vs Gabon Prediction: Expect a competitive matchup

On Sunday afternoon, as part of the second round of qualifying for the CAF 2026 World Cup, Burundi will be playing host to Gabon at the Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium. Both teams come into this contest riding high after earning victories in the opening qualifiers of their respective tournaments the most recent time they competed and will be aiming to continue where they left off. 

Thursday's match between Burundi and Gambia's Scorpions in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was a nail-biter that ended with Burundi eking out a 3-2 victory. Abedi Bigirimana and Frederic Nsabiyumva scored for Etienne Ndayiragije's team in the first half, putting them up 2-1 at the break. Fifteen minutes from the end of the game, Abdallah Said scored the insurance goal that sealed the deal, making Ebrima Colley's late goal irrelevant. As a consequence of this, Les Hirondelles are currently in first place in their World Cup qualification group, tied with Gabon in terms of points in advance of their matchup this coming weekend. The team that will be playing on Sunday's home field has demonstrated that they are a formidable adversary in front of their supporters by winning each of their previous four matches on their own soil.

At the Stade de Franceville on Thursday, the Harambee Stars of Kenya were the team that Gabon defeated by a score of 2-1 to get off to a winning start in their qualification campaign. Denis Bouanga and Guelor Kanga scored goals for Patrice Neveu's team to tie the score after falling behind to Masoud Juma's opening goal five minutes before the half. However, Masoud Juma scored the game's only goal in the second half. Since March, when they defeated Sudan in the qualifying round for the African Cup of Nations by a score of 1-0, Les Pantheres have not tasted victory in any of their previous five matches across all competitions. The next obstacle to overcome is a rival team that has failed to win any of the past five times they have competed in this match, despite the fact that four of those prior contests have ended in a draw. The visitors on Sunday are currently getting ready for what is expected to be a challenging task while they are on the road. They are looking for what would be their first victory away from home in 2023.

The three previous contests between the two teams who will face one another on Sunday have produced a total of four goals, and we anticipate that this match will also have a low number of goals scored. Having said that, we believe that Gabon will ultimately be successful, albeit by a razor-thin margin.