Bringing to a close a marathon month of qualifiers, the biggest names in Africa all shut up shop for the summer with wins on Sunday. Congo DR, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Egypt and Mali each took a significant step closer to the third stage with three valuable points.

FIFA.com looks back at the action from Sunday's highest-profile games in the African Zone.

Game of the day
Egypt 2-0 Malawi
Goals: Emad Moteab 17' and 51'

Long made to suffer by Congo DR during their 2-1 opening-match win, then upset 1-0 by Malawi last week, the Pharaohs could settle for nothing less than victory at the Cairo International Stadium this weekend. Malawi were their opponents once again and Egypt exploded out of the blocks to deny the visitors the chance to settle, before taking a deserved lead through Emad Moteab after 17 minutes. With that goal on the board, Hassan Shehata's men contented themselves with protecting their lead, but that did not stop them from wrapping up the result when Moteab notched his second six minutes after the restart. The Egyptians now join Congo DR at the Group 12 summit, trailing only on goal difference. The meeting between the two sides in Kinshasa on 7 September is already shaping up to be a classic.

Surprise of the day
Mozambique 3-0 Madagascar
Goals: Manuel Bucuane 23', Danito Parruque 62' and Elias Pelembe 63'

Heading into their fourth game, Mozambique were propping up the Group 7 table with a solitary point to their name, while the Malagasy team were beginning to look like potential outsiders after three impressive draws. Those roles were reversed in the heat of the Machava stadium in Maputo, with Dutchman Mart Nooij's charges imposing their will with ease on the lacklustre Scorpions. This first victory pulls Mozambique to within a point of Botswana and four behind hot favourites Côte d'Ivoire, all of which could make for a thrilling encounter when the Mozambicans travel to Botswana in the final round of matches on 10 October.

Player of the day
Ismael Bangoura (GUI)

Following a disappointing start which yielded just one point from two matches, Guinea needed nothing a morale-boosting win before the summer break. The Syli National suggested they were on their way back to prime form by collecting a 2-1 success in Namibia last week, and they confirmed that impression with an overwhelming 4-0 victory over the same opponents at the Stade du 28 Septembre in Conakry. Instrumental to their performance was Ismael Bangoura, scorer of a hat-trick in little more than 20 minutes with goals in the 36th, 54th and 58th minutes. The Dinamo Kiev striker made the game safe after his captain Pascal Feindouno had broken the deadlock on 32 minutes, helping Frenchman Robert Nouzaret's troops move into top spot in Group 2, level with Kenya but boasting a better goal difference.

Number crunching
13: The number of goals scored by Congo DR in their four second-stage qualifiers, giving them an average of 3.25 per match. That is the highest total in the African Zone.

Sunday's results
Zimbabwe 0-0 Kenya
Ethiopia 6-1 Mauritania
Mozambique 3-0 Madagascar
Congo DR 5-1 Djibouti
Congo 2-0 Chad
Benin 2-0 Niger
Côte d'Ivoire 4-0 Botswana
Ghana 2-0 Gabon
Guinea 4-0 Namibia
Cap Verde Islands 3-1 Mauritius
Egypt 2-0 Malawi
Mali 3-0 Sudan

The game between Angola and Uganda has been postponed until 23 June 2008, when it will be played at 15.30 CET. Click on the links on the right to discover all the important statistics relating to the African Zone, plus the match reports from all Sunday's games.