{"id":76,"date":"2025-08-18T20:02:59","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T20:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/?p=76"},"modified":"2025-08-20T05:08:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T05:08:38","slug":"uganda-breaks-chan-curse-with-dramatic-draw-against-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/18\/uganda-breaks-chan-curse-with-dramatic-draw-against-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Uganda Breaks CHAN Curse With Dramatic Draw Against South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Uganda Cranes finally ended years of frustration at the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN), advancing to the knockout stages for the first time after a gripping 3-3 draw with South Africa on Monday night at the Mandela National Stadium in Kampala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result saw Uganda top Group C with seven points, one ahead of Algeria. South Africa, despite also finishing on six points, were eliminated on goal difference. Guinea (four points) and Niger (two) exited the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With only a draw needed to qualify, Uganda settled quickly and delighted the home crowd when Jude Ssemugabi opened the scoring in the 31st minute, finishing off Patrick Kakande\u2019s swift counter-attack. The Cranes went into the break leading 1-0, seemingly cruising towards history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa returned from halftime with intensity and turned the match around in a matter of minutes. Ramahlwe Mphahlele levelled the score in the 52nd minute after a VAR review, before Thabiso Kutumela edged Bafana Bafana in front six minutes later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their momentum continued into the final stretch when Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo unleashed a stunning long-range strike in the 83rd minute to make it 3-1, leaving Uganda staring at heartbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Cranes refused to bow out. In the 86th minute, Ivan Ahimbisibwe won a penalty, and Allan Okello converted to cut the deficit to 3-2, reigniting belief inside the stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drama peaked in stoppage time when a handball by Menzi Masuku handed Uganda another spot-kick. Rogers Torach stepped up in the 96th minute, coolly slotting home to seal a famous draw that sent the stadium into wild celebrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time in eight attempts, Uganda have reached the CHAN quarter-finals, breaking the cycle of early exits that haunted past campaigns. The Cranes\u2019 resilience, character, and fighting spirit in Kampala marked a new chapter in the nation\u2019s football journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Head coach Morley Byekwaso and his squad will now head into the last eight with momentum and confidence, backed by Allan Okello\u2019s creativity and a passionate home crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For South Africa, the exit was bitter. Leading 3-1 with minutes to go, Bafana Bafana looked destined for progression but were undone by late lapses and Uganda\u2019s unrelenting spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By – Kato Joshua<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa returned from halftime with intensity and turned the match around in a matter of minutes. Ramahlwe Mphahlele levelled the score in the 52nd minute after a VAR review, before Thabiso Kutumela edged Bafana Bafana in front six minutes later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":74,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"right-sidebar","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"normal-width-container","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"disabled","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"disabled","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76\/revisions\/79"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}