It was a mostly good round of matches for the COSAFA sides in the first leg of their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers over the last few days.

Nine teams from the COSAFA region were in action and almost all will feel they got positive results to take into the second legs to be played in midweek.

Swaziland were the biggest winners as they claimed a 6-0 success away at Djibouti to all-but seal their place in the next round.

Botswana will also be happy with their work following a 2-0 win in Eritrea in what was a potential banana-skin for Peter Butler’s side.

Madagascar have taken a decisive 3-0 lead in the first leg of their tie with Central African Republic and with the home leg to come, will be supremely confident of advancing to the next stage.

Namibia earned an excellent 1-1 draw in The Gambia and will be confident of completing the job at home, though weary of a Gambian side that has the potential to surprise.

The Comoros and Lesotho played to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their tie and will meet again in the Mountain Kingdom for the return on Tuesday.

Seychelles will have their work cut out to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Burundi when they travel to Bujumbura.

Two COSAFA sides are already out of the running though – Malawi beat Tanzania 1-0 on Sunday in the second leg of their tie but were 2-0 losers in the first game and exit on aggregate.

Mauritius did well to get a 0-0 draw in Kenya in the second leg of their match-up, but having lost 5-2 at home in the first game have seen their participation ended.