Togo have secured qualification for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations after romping to a 5-0 victory over minnows Djibouti on Sunday night.
The Sparrow Hawks’ hopes of qualifying appeared pretty thin at the start of the final round of qualifiers, but a combination of their strong performance and results elsewhere going in their favour – most notably Mali whipping Benin – has seem them snatch one of two berths reserved for the best runners-up.
Togo defeated Djibouti 5-0 in Lome thanks to goals from Vincent Bossou, Mathieu Dossevi, Fo-Doh Laba and a late brace from Komlan Agbegniadan.
This saw them move into second place in Group A (up from third after Tunisia beat Liberia 4-1 to claim top spot and push the Lone Stars out of the top two) and their haul of 11 points and a goal difference of plus seven saw them oust Benin and join Uganda as the two best runners-up.
This is Togo’s first qualification to the Afcon since 2013.