Mozambique vs Rwanda Match Analysis and Prediction

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Mozambique and Rwanda will be meeting at the FNB Stadium on Thursday as both teams aim to begin their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign on a positive note.

The two national teams have been drawn in Group L of the qualifiers where they will face off with Benin and AFCON defending champions Senegal.

Mozambique feel to a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Sihlangu Semnikati of Eswatini in last Tuesday’s encounter at Campo da ABB.

Khethokuhle Mkhontfo opened the scoring with an eye-catching finish just past the hour mark, which proved enough to decide the game.

As a result, Chiquinho Conde’s side have now failed to prevail in any of their three matches since the turn of the year, which is definitely a cause for concern.

Os Mambas now face a challenge of an opposing side who have proven to be a tough team to beat, with the previous four encounters ending in two wins apiece for either side.

The most recent of those meetings came back in March 2021 at Mozambique fell to a 1-0 AFCON qualifying defeat, although that proved to be inconsequential as both teams eventually failed to reach the competition proper.

Meanwhile, Rwanda are yet to feature on the international stage since a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the National Elephants of Guinea back in January.

First-half goals from Mohamed Bayo and Naby Keita put the Amavubi to the sword at the Amahoro Stadium.

Haruna Niyonzima’s side have now lost five of their six matches, and they will be looking to put an end to that dip in form as soon as possible.

That poor run includes three straight away defeats at the hands of Kenya, Uganda and Mali, which left Thursday’s visitors having another tough task on the road in this contest.

Mozambique vs Rwanda head to head

The two national teams have previously met on only four occasions in the Africa Cup of Nations Qualifications, where they have claimed two victories each. Mozambique have scored five goals and conceded four in the process. They now meet for the fifth time in the same competition.

Mozambique 0-1 Rwanda 14/06/15

Rwanda 2-3 Mozambique 04/06/16

Mozambique 2-0 Rwanda 14/11/19

Rwanda 1-0 Mozambique 24/03/21

Mozambique latest home form

Mozambique have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won just one of their six most recent matches. They lost 1-0 to Eswatini in their last home game in a friendly match. In their last five matches, they have scored two goals and conceded three.

Mozambique 0-0 Cote d’Ivoire 03/09/21

Mozambique 0-1 Cameroon 11/10/21

Mozambique 1-0 Malawi 16/11/21

Mozambique 1-1 Niger 23/03/22

Mozambique 0-1 Eswatini 24/05/22

Mozambique latest away form

Mozambique have recently been on a poor run of form on the road, having lost each of their eight most recent matches. They lost 2-1 to Mauritania in their last away game in a firendly match. In their last five matches, they have scored just two goals and conceded 12.

South Africa 3-0 Mozambique 16/07/21

Malawi 1-0 Mozambique 07/09/21

Cameroon 3-1 Mozambique 08/10/21

Cote d’Ivoire 3-0 Mozambique 13/11/21

Mauritania 2-1 Mozambique 26/03/22

Rwanda latest home form

Rwanda have recently been on a poor run of form at home, having failed to win in any of their four most recent matches. They lost 2-0 to Giunea in their last home game in a friendly match. In their last five matches, they have scored six goals and conceded seven.

Rwanda 5-0 Central African Republic 07/06/21

Rwanda 1-1 Kenya 05/09/21

Rwanda 0-1 Uganda 07/10/21

Rwanda 0-3 Mali 11/11/21

Rwanda 0-2 Guinea 06/01/22

Rwanda latest away form

Rwanda have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having won just one of their six most recent matches. They defeated Guinea 3-0 in their last away game in a friendly match. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded four.

Cameroon 0-0 Rwanda 30/03/21

Mali 1-0 Rwanda 01/09/21

Uganda 1-0 Rwanda 10/10/21

Kenya 2-1 Rwanda 15/11/21

Guinea 0-3 Rwanda 03/01/22

Mozambique news

Mozambique have selected a 35-man squad, where Atletico Madrid defender Reinildo Mandava will be headlining the team for the first round of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Domingues Pelembe currently sits on 95 international caps and he is on course to move joint-top of his nation’s all-time appearance charts.

Rwanda news

Rafael York and Maddie Kagere have both been named in Rwanda’s 28-man squad for this one but the duo will link up with the rest of their teammates in Johannesburg.

No active Rwandan player has scored more international goals than the above-mentioned Kagere, who boasts 15 goals in 48 national-team caps.

Prediction and Odds

Both teams have found goals hard to come by recently and the two sides have also had poor runs of form in recent occasions, making the contest almost even.

However, with the home advantage on their side, we are backing Mozambique to come out on top at the end of the game.

Odds: 1 2.15 X 2.05 2 2.30