Nigeria have failed to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations after falling to a 1-0 defeat in Egypt in their Group G match on Tuesday.
With just one game remaining and only the group winners to qualify, Nigeria cannot make up their five-point deficit to table-toppers Egypt.
Ramadan Sobhy’s 65th-minute winner puts Egypt on the verge of qualification.
Egypt face Tanzania in June and will book their place in Gabon with any result better than a 3-0 defeat.
Nigeria won the Nations Cup in 2013 but have now suffered back-to-back eliminations in qualifying.
Nigeria, who are five points adrift in Group G with one game to go, will sit out the 2017 finals in Gabon as they did in Equatorial Guinea last year after winning the 2013 edition in South Africa.
The match in Alexandria became a virtually all-or-nothing tie for Nigeria after Chad withdrew from the group on Sunday, citing financial difficulties, and all results from their matches were erased.
Cameroon moved closer to qualification with a goalless draw in Durban against South Africa, who are without a win after four Group M matches and facing a likely elimination.
“We had hoped for a win to make our position even more secure but this was a good result,” said Cameroon’s new coach Hugo Broos.
Liberia top Group A after beating Djibouti 5-0 at home while the Democratic Republic of Congo are Group B leaders after beating Angola 2-0 away with second-half goals from Joel Kimwaki and Jonathan Bolingi.
Guinea revived their hopes by winning 2-1 in Malawi but Togo failed to make the most of the return of striker Emmanuel Adebayor to their side and were held to a 0-0 home draw by Tunisia.
The next round of qualifying in June will be followed by a last set of preliminaries in September. Hosts Gabon will be joined by 13 qualifying group winners and the best two runners-up.
