Uganda and Burundi will be locking horns when they meet in late December for their final qualifying matches for the upcoming African Nations Championship next year. This will include a double-legged clash, with the home leg for Uganda taking place on 27 Dec and the away leg coming one week prior. Both games will be held at the Mandela National Stadium. Let’s get into more details.
A warm up for Uganda and a decisive round for Burundi
In the CECAFA section of the CHAN 2025 qualification, the East African nations of Uganda and Burundi take on each other. Uganda, however, go into the final rounds having already secured a spot in the final as one of the host nations together with Tanzania and Kenya. They will still be involved in these matches after CAF decided it’s an excellent way to get match fitness as opposed to friendly matches. It’s left to be seen how this will affect the dynamics of the game and the intensity from the home side.
Burundi, on the other hand, head into these matches with everything to play for. They got a bye in the last round, as both matches against Somalia were awarded to them by default. So this will be a major test in their bid to snatch up the only spot left in the CECAFA section of qualification. They will hope that they are able to gain an advantage in the home leg on 21 Dec.
H2H history and what to expect from both sides
Uganda and Burundi do not have a great deal of match history for teams who are close neighbours. There have been just three previous meetings between these nations. Uganda boasts marginally better stats with two wins, while Burundi has won once. All wins were achieved by the home team on the day, and precisely three goals were scored on each occasion.
Uganda will definitely come into this contest as favourites, especially as the home team. But it is worth noting that there is no telling how the fact that this match is merely a warm-up game will affect their approach and mentality. Burundi will be banking on complacency creeping in on their opponents and helping their cause. However, they will be wary that they have no match conditioning as this is their first decisive game. Whether you lean on an outright win or an over-goal count, you can get the best odds and top sites to bet with on the cheekypunter’s website.
The final round of qualifiers will be interesting to follow as the dynamics make for a very unpredictable game to call. Uganda looks like the stronger side and will be favoured to be the dominant team, but Burundi will come with more conviction. The results of Uganda’s away game will definitely affect how things play out in the reverse fixture to follow.
