Drammeh the hero as Gambia U17 rekindle 2025 TotalEnergies U-17 AFCON campaign with win over Somalia

At the Stade Ben Ahmed El Abdi in Morocco, Gambia U17 rekindled their 2025 TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations campaign on Friday by defeating Somalia 5-1 in their second Group C encounter.

Gambia’s first game ended in a tight loss to their neighbours Senegal, but they bounced back with strength and purpose, taking a 3-0 lead at halftime and never looking back.

Despite a strong second half performance, Somalia, who lost their opening match against Tunisia, were outplayed in crucial areas.

After Alagie Baba was taken down in the box, Alieu Drammeh scored from the penalty spot to give Gambia the lead within four minutes.

On the sixteenth minute, Drammeh doubled his score with a composed right-footed goal to complete a deftly headed assist by Bubacarr Suso.

Somali defender Liban Kalif gave Gambia a third goal just before halftime as he redirected the ball into his own net while under pressure.

Anas Isse’s clean finish from close range early in the second half gave Somalia a fleeting hope of a comeback.

Gambia quickly reclaimed control, though, as Drammeh headed home a corner from Muhammed Danso on minute 76 to complete his hat-trick.

After a swift counterattack, substitute Bisenty Mendy scored Gambia’s fifth goal with a calm finish in stoppage time to close out the scoring.

Gambia now has three points after the outcome, maintaining their chances of qualifying before their last group game against Tunisia.

Somalia will try to recover pride when they play Senegal, the group favourites, after suffering two losses in two games.