The home based Scorpions drew goalless with Gabon in their first-leg qualifier encounter played at the Stade Lat Dior in Thies, Senegal, last Friday.
The Gambia needed a 1-1 draw against the Gabonese to advance to the final round of the 2025 Total Energies Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers.
The keenly-contested match saw both The Gambia and Gabon played brilliant football and created goal scoring opportunities but failed to capitalise on them thus the first half ended goalless.
Upon resumption of the match, The Gambia and Gabon injected in several fresh legs to reinforce their attacking departments to boost their hopes of scoring goals.
The home based Scorpions and the Gabonese both crafted goal scoring chances.
Samson Mbingui could have opened the scores for Gabon in the 77th minute of the match from the penalty spot but his shot was denied by the goal post thus the match ended goalless.
This pushed the match into penalty shootouts, which ended 5-3 in favour of The Gambia.
The win earns The Gambia a place in the final round of the 2025 Total Energies Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers.
The Gambia will now face Algeria in the final round of the 2025 Total Energies Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers.
The defeat saw Gabon out of the 2025 Total Energies Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers.
The Gabonese will now hang their boots until 2027 Total Energies Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers after their exit from the 2025 Total Energies Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers.
