Lesotho and Malawi both picked up wins on Tuesday to stay level on points at the top of Group B at the 2016 COSAFA Castle Cup.
Lesotho defeated Angola 2-0 and Malawi edged Mauritius 1-0 to set up a showdown for top spot between the two on Thursday.
Mauritius and Angola are out of the competition and will play for pride in their final fixture.
The winner of this pool advances to the quarterfinals where they will face South Africa on Saturday.
Lesotho took a giant step towards those quarterfinals with a 2-0 victory over the youthful Angola side, dumping their opponents out of the competition in the process.
Lesotho have now won two from two and have yet to concede a goal. They looked comfortable in their win, handed to them by an 11th minute strike from Tumelo Khutlang and a late penalty by Hlompho Kalake.
The Angolans were reduced to 10 men when their captain and centre-back Abdul Nzayinawo received his second yellow card with 10 minutes remaining.
He will now miss Angola’s final match against Mauritius on Thursday.
Malawi were deserved winners having created a number of chances against Mauritius, but could only convert one as Miracle Gabeya headed home a corner from Gerald Phiri Jnr.
They continued to press but could not add a second goal which means a draw in their fixture against Lesotho on Thursday will see The Flames eliminated on goal-difference.
Wednesday sees the culmination of Group A and the permutations are complicated.
Put simply, the winner of the tie between Swaziland and Madagascar at the Independence Stadium will advance to the quarterfinals and a date with Zambia on Sunday.
However, if that match finishes in a goalless draw and Zimbabwe defeat Seychelles as expected, all three teams will finish on five points, meaning they must be separated in a mini-league of points secured between the three.
But in that instance, they would all be on two points, though Madagascar would be eliminated on goals scored.
Zimbabwe and Swaziland would both then have two goals scored, meaning they would need to be separated on goal-difference in all group games. In that case Zimbabwe would need to beat Seychelles by five clear goals.
But if Swaziland and Madagascar are involved in a score-draw, it will be the former who advance.
TUESDAY’S RESULTS
Group B
Angola 0 Lesotho 2 (Khutlang 11’, Kalake 80’)
Mauritius 0 Malawi 1 (Gabeya 47’)
WEDNESDAY’S FIXTURES
Group A
Zimbabwe vs Seychelles (KO 17h00 local, 16h00 GMT) – Sam Nujoma Stadium
Swaziland vs Madagascar (KO 17h00 local, 16h00 GMT) – Independence Stadium
STANDINGS
Group A P W D L GF GA Pts
Swaziland 2 1 1 0 6 2 4
Madagascar 2 1 1 0 1 0 4
Zimbabwe 2 0 2 0 2 2 2
Seychelles 2 0 0 2 0 5 0
Group B P W D L GF GA Pts
Lesotho 2 2 0 0 5 0 6
Malawi 2 2 0 0 4 0 6
Mauritius 2 0 0 2 0 4 0
Angola 2 0 0 2 0 5 0
TOURNAMENT STATS
Matches Played: 8
Goals scored: 18
Biggest victory: Swaziland 4 Seychelles 0 (Group B, June 13)
Most goals in a game: 4 – Zimbabwe 2 Swaziland 2 (Group A, June 11); Swaziland 4 Seychelles 0 (Group B, June 13)
GOALSCORERS
4 goals – Felix Badenhorst (Swaziland)
3 – Gabadinho Mhango (Malawi)
1 – Claudel Fanomenza (Madagascar), Miracle Gabeya (Malawi), Hlompho Kalake (Lesotho), Jeremea Kamela (Lesotho), Tumelo Khutlang (Lesotho), Sera Motebang (Lesotho), Njubulo Ndlovo (Swaziland), Wonder Nhleko (Swaziland), Ronald Pfumbidzai (Zimbabwe), Obadiah Tarumbwa (Zimbabwe), Jane Thaba-Ntso (Lesotho)
