African Countries in World Cup 2026

2026 FIFA World Cup

The next edition of the FIFA World Cup will take place in the summer of 2026. The tournament will be co-hosted by the USA, Mexico, and Canada. This edition is a special one as there are some changes that have been made to the format of the competition. The number of participating nations has been expanded from 32 to 48 nations.

For the African continent that means that 4 more countries will get a direct ticket to the event with the possibility of a 10th spot through the payoff route. Previously 5 teams represented Africa or up to 6 in 2010 as South Africa had an automatic spot as part of the hosting privileges.

African Teams that have Qualified for World Cup 2026 as Group Winners

Nine African nations have automatically secured their place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. They did so by topping their respective qualifying groups. Here they are, with what’s notable about each qualification.

Morocco

Morocco beat Niger 5-0 to seal top spot with matches to spare. The Atlas Lions are the only team with 100% record with their 7 wins from 7 matches. Morocco will look to replicate or better their appearance in the 2022 edition where they reached the semi finals of the world cup.

Tunisia 

Qualified from Group H after a 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea. Tunisia dominated the group and had already opened a 10-point gap with the second placed team with a game left to play. This will be Tunisia’s seventh World Cup appearance.

Egypt    

Egypt’s 3-0 win over Djibouti, led by a brace from Mohamed Salah, made their lead unassailable with one game left to play. This is good news for Egypt as they have bounced back after missing recent tournaments. Their forwards (especially Salah) have been in excellent form for his country and they will hope to carry this into the world cup.

Algeria 

Algeria secured qualification with a 3-0 win over Somalia in matchday 9 of the qualifiers. This ends a drought as Algeria missed a few recent World Cups. They look to be peaking at the right time with the global event just around the corner.

Ghana  

The Black Stars cemented their top spot in Group I after winning their final match against Comoros through a Kudus goal. The Black Stars will hope to replicate their best outing where they reached the quarterfinals in 2010.

Cape Verde 

Cape Verde made history after their win in their final group match at home versus Eswatini. They qualified for the first time everas one of the smallest nations ever to achieve this feat. Cape Verde surprisingly beat second-placed Cameroon to the automatic qualification from this group.

Senegal 

Senegal sealed qualification after winning their final match at home vs South Sudan. They had a 2-point lead over DR Congo who played Togo in their final match.  Competition from DR Congo was fierce and took this group down to the wire. Mane Scored a brace in the final match to lead his team to the World Cup.

Ivory Coast

They led Group F with a solitary point over second placed Gabon.  A win in their final match against Kenya helped secure the top spot. Gabon provided tough competition to The Elephants but were unable to beat them to the top spot; they will have a chance to earn qualification through the playoff route.

South Africa

Group C was perhaps the tightest one going in to the last round of fixtures with only 3 points between the 1^st and the 3rd team. South Africa managed to get over the line on the last day after their win against Rwanda.

The Play-off Route

The Four best runners up across all groups will take part in a play-off tournament in a bid to join other 9 group winners on the list to the world cup. Based on standings in the groups the following teams will join the playoff tournaments.

Gabon, Nigeria, DR Congo, and Cameroon.

The teams will have a tough journey of playing a CAF Playoff tournament and then an Intercontinental Playoff for a chance to join the other African countries in World Cup 2026.