Morocco hammered Mali 8-1 to win their second successive International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Blind Football African Championships in Praia, Cape Verde, from 21-30 October.

Both the champions and runners-up have therefore qualified for next year’s World Championships, set to take place in Madrid, Spain, between 5 and 18 June.

Egypt completed the podium after beating the hosts 5-2 in the bronze medal match. This was Cape Verde’s first time competing at an international competition.

All the games took place at the Estadio Nacional, the same used by Cape Verde’s football team for its international matches.

Blind football is growing fast in Africa. Last year, Morocco became the continent’s first blind football team to compete at a Paralympic Games.

Although finishing in eighth place, Morocco rounded off a good first Paralympic experience, achieving a 1-1 draw against European champions Turkey in the group stage. Moroccan player Abderrazak Hattab also scored the first goal of the blind football competition in the 3-1 defeat by Paralympic and world champions Brazil.

More information can be found on IBSA Blind Football’s Facebook page.