AFCON U20: Five-star Gambia edge South Sudan in the quarters to book a World Cup spot

Just like Uganda, South Sudan will not be heading to the FIFA U20 World Cup set for Indonesia later in the year after being edged out of the 2023 AFCON U20 at the quarters.

The Bright Stars fell 5-0 to The Gambia in the third quarterfinal played on Friday evening at the Haras El Hodood Stadium to bid the competition they were debuting at.

Instead, it is The Scorpions of Gambia who will be heading to Indonesia, joining Senegal and Nigeria who have already booked their spots following their qualifications to the semis of the continental competition.

Gambia will now face off with Nigeria in the semis as they try to better their best performance at the competition, two third-place finishes in 2007 and in the last edition of the competition in 2021.

Kenyan-based duo of Daniel Achiok and Paul Jawa playing their club football for Nairobi United and Rainbow FC played the entire length of the match, with Sofapaka's Jacob Addis watching proceedings from the bench.

Adama Bojang grabbed a hattrick, the second to be scored in this year's edition after that of Senegal's Pape Diop against Egypt, with Moses Jarju and Mahmudu Bajo grabbing a goal each to complete the five.

Bojang scored first, latching on to a long ball from Alagie Saine to fire home past Godwill Sabio in the sixth minute and give his side an early lead.

Five minutes after conceding, South Sudan were dealt a blow after defender Mabior Achiek went down injured and had to be replaced with Safino Lado, a player who was also injured in their opening group match.

Jarju scored the second for Gambia 27 minutes in the game with Bojang making it 3-0 five minutes later to head into the break with a three-goal advantage.

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On resumption for the second half, Gambia picked from where they had left as Bojang scored the fourth goal two minutes into the period, completing his hattrick in the process, with Bajo scoring the fifth with 20 minutes left to play.