Mohamed Amoura netted twice, taking his goal tally in the qualifying campaign to eight, while captain Riyad Mahrez also scored.

Victory for Algeria advanced it to an unassailable 22 points with one match still to play in Group G. It will be its fifth FIFA World Cup finals appearance but its first since Brazil in 2014.

The top team in each of the nine African groups qualifies automatically for the finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and Algeria joins the already qualified Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.

Amoura handed Algeria a seventh-minute lead when Mahrez’s cross was missed by striker Baghdad Bounedjah but found the Bundesliga-based forward unmarked at the back post to convert.

WATCH the Bundesliga LIVE on beIN SPORTS | Sign up to take advantage of our 7-day FREE TRIAL here | AU | NZ

Mahrez then doubled the lead 12 minutes later with Amoura scoring his second, again from a Mahrez cross, in the 57th minute.

The fixture was a home game for Somalia, but because it does not have a suitable venue for international matches, it was hosted in Oran, handing Algeria the chance to celebrate qualification in front of a packed house at Stade Miloud Hadefi.

Elsewhere, Uganda consolidated second spot in the group with a 1-0 victory in Botswana as Jude Ssemugabi netted early in the second half at Francistown.

It had been ahead of Mozambique on goal difference but is now three points clear after Mozambique lost at home to Guinea, for which teenage striker Abdoul Karim Traore netted twice in a 2-1 win.

The 18-year-old opened the scoring in the second minute in Maputo and slammed home the winner in the 59th minute.

The four best runners-up across the nine groups will advance to a play-off in November for a possible additional slot for Africa at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Namibia’s chances of securing one of the play-off berths were handed a blow by a 3-1 loss away to Liberia, which scored two early goals in Monrovia through Ayouba Kosiah’s third-minute penalty and a ninth-minute strike from Sulahmana Bah.

Edward Ledlum made it 3-0 with nine minutes to go before Namibia netted a consolation goal.

Tunisia had already secured top spot in Group H last month with Namibia staying second on 15 points, one more than Liberia.

Malawi was supposed to host Equatorial Guinea, which failed to arrive for the clash in Blantyre and is likely to forfeit the points, keeping up Malawi’s chances of earning the runner-up slot.

Kenya won 1-0 away in Burundi, with substitute Ryan Ogam scoring a late winner in the Group F clash.

Burundi played with 10 men for all but the first five minutes of the match after striker Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana was sent off for a dangerous challenge on Kenya goalkeeper Brian Bwire, who was injured and had to be replaced.

A further nine qualifiers will be played around Africa on Saturday (AEDT), bringing the ninth round of matches to a close. The final round begins on Monday (AEDT) with fixtures through until Wednesday (AEDT).