A whirlwind start in which Mahmoud Trezeguet scored twice propelled Mohamed Salah-led Egypt to a 2-1 victory over Burkina Faso in a World Cup matchday three showdown in Cairo on Thursday.
Turkey-based Trezeguet scored with his head after three minutes and his left foot after seven minutes, and the win gave the Pharaohs a four-point lead over Guinea-Bissau in Group A.
Liverpool star Salah set up the first goal on his return to the national team after suffering a hamstring injury during the group stage at the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations.
Lassina Traore reduced the deficit 11 minutes into the second half, but the Burkinabe could not avoid a first loss and slipped to third.
Guinea-Bissau were surprisingly held 0-0 at home by Ethiopia, and will now prepare to host Egypt on Monday.
Egypt are among six countries boasting 100 per cent records after Algeria sustained a shock 2-1 home defeat by Guinea in Group G, with Aguibou Camara firing the 63rd-minute winner.
Senegal had to beat the visiting Democratic Republic of Congo to regain first place in Group B, but were held to a 1-1 draw after Fiston Mayele equalised with five minutes remaining.
The stalemate left the Senegalese two points behind Sudan, who won 2-0 in Mauritania, and the Congolese lie third.
Crystal Palace forward Jordan Ayew scored in added time as Ghana came from behind in Group I to triumph 2-1 in Mali and rise from fifth to second.
Libya rose two places to the top of Group D after a 2-1 victory over Mauritius in eastern coastal city Benghazi.
Some exciting results on display as an extra long day of African #WCQ comes to an end. 👇 pic.twitter.com/aNVf5JsGbz
— CAF (@CAF_Online) June 6, 2024
LIBYA ON TOP
Faisal al Badri converted a penalty only for 35-year-old Kevin Bru to draw the Indian Ocean islanders level.
Ahmed Ekrawa scored his second goal of the qualifying campaign before halftime, and it proved the match-winner for the Mediterranean Knights.
Libya were reduced to 10 men on 83 minutes when centre-back Ali Youssef was shown a straight red card.
Victory lifted the Libyans to seven points, three more than Cameroon and Cape Verde, who meet in Yaounde on Saturday.
Serbian Milutin Sredojevic coaches Libya having previously benn in charge of Rwanda, Uganda (twice) and Zambia, as well as numerous African clubs.
Malawi moved within three points of Group H pacesetters Tunisia thanks to a 3-1 win over Sao Tome e Principe in Lilongwe.
It was a predictable outcome given that the Malawian Flames were 63 places higher than their opponents in the world rankings.
The home team got off to a flying start with Chawanangwa Kaonga and Lanjesi Nkhoma scoring within 14 minutes.
Sao Tome halved the deficit after halftime through Denilson da Silva before Chifundo Mphasi assured Malawi would collect maximum points by scoring 12 minutes from time.
Tunisia, seeking a third straight appearance at the World Cup finals, have nine points, Namibia seven and Malawi six.
A Group E fixture between Congo Brazzaville and Niger was not played, reportedly because of a dispute over where it should take place.
It was originally set for Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo across the Congo river from Brazzaville, because the national stadium in Congo was sub standard.
However, the Brazzaville stadium was approved for international football after a last-minute inspection and, when Niger insisted on playing Kinshasa, Congo refused to go there.