Here Are the Nine African Countries Competing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup

After ten rounds of fixtures and over 250 matches played in the past two years, Africa’s nine automatic qualifiers to next year’s FIFA men’s World Cup have been decided. As is often the case with African football, the qualifiers produced several stories like Cape Verde qualifying for its first world cup appearance, and unexpected results like Nigeria and Cameroon failing to qualify despite being deemed favorites in their respective groups.

There’s one more slot up for grabs through the inter-confederation playoffs, with four of the best second-placed teams — Gabon, DR Congo, Cameroon and Nigeria — facing off in a mini-tournament in mid-November, for the opportunity to represent Africa in the playoffs.

For now, here are the nine African countries that will be heading to Mexico, Canada and the U.S. next summer.

Morocco

It’s not surprising that the highest ranked African football team in the world was the first to book their slot at the next world cup. The Atlas Lions conceded just two goals en route to winning all eight qualifying matches, seeming to be unthreatened by their opponents, with the exception of the comeback victory against Niger in their fourth fixture. At the 2022 world cup, Morocco made its mark as the closest African team to a medal finish; the team will be hoping for similar, if not better, exploits next year.

Tunisia

The Tunisian team made history as the first team in history to qualify for the World Cup without conceding a goal in the qualifying rounds. They won nine games and drew one, capping off their campaign with 3-0 win against Namibia, similar to how they started the campaign with a 4-0 routing of Sao Tome and Principe back in late 2023. Tunisia will be playing in the World Cup for the third time in a row, the best run they’ve had, and the team will be hoping to advance beyond the group stage, where they’ve largely exited in previous appearances.

Egypt

Led by nine goals from captain and revered forward Mohamed Salah, Egypt waltzed through the qualification rounds with eight wins and two draws. After missing out on qualifying for the last world cup, the Pharaohs came out swinging with a 6-0 trouncing of Djibouti and a 2-0 win over Sierra Leone in the opening rounds of matches. The team was largely clinical in their run, scoring 20 goals and conceding just two, living up to their tag as the favorites to qualify from their group.

Algeria

Led by ten goals from star striker Mohamed Amoura, Algeria was one of the most dominant teams in the African qualifiers, notching eight wins in their ten matches. The team qualified with a 3-0 win over Somalia in their penultimate fixture, an achievement they could’ve reached a month earlier if they had managed a win against Guinea — the match ended in a goalless draw. Next year’s world cup will be their first time at the tournament since they played in Russia in 2014, and the 2019 AFCON champions will be looking to make up for lost time with a great performance.

Ghana

After a shaky start that included a lone, late goal win against Madagascar and a loss to Comoros, Ghana’s Black Stars locked in and went on a rampage of seven wins out of eight matches. Forward Jordan Ayew delivered seven goals, including a much-needed hattrick in the nervy 4-3 win over Central African Republic. Despite group stage exits in their last two world cup appearances (2014 and 2022), the team will be looking to pull inspiration from 2006 where they were the only African team to make it to the second round, and the famous 2010 run where they were a blatant handball away from reaching the semi-finals.

Cape Verde

Back in June 2024, after a 4-1 trouncing to group favorites Cameroon, barely anyone gave Cape Verde the chance to emerge from Group D. In their following fixtures, the Blue Sharks won five straight games, followed by a thrilling 3-3 draw against Libya, then capping things off with an emphatic 3-0 whooping of Eswatini in front of thousands of adoring fans in Praia. This marks the first time Cape Verde will be at the FIFA World Cup, a monumental achievement the team will look to build on next summer.

Senegal

Although Senegal went undefeated through the World Cup qualifying rounds, pulling three draws in their first five games meant they had to maintain a perfect winning run in their final five fixtures, which they achieved. The Teranga Lions concluded their campaign with a powerful nine-goal display over their last two matches against South Sudan and Mauritania, following an impressive comeback win against DR Congo where they overcame a two-goal deficit. Back in 2002, Senegal became the second African team to reach the quarter-final stage of the world cup, a feat they haven’t managed since then. The team might be looking to match or surpass that achievement as they gear up for their fourth World Cup appearance.

South Africa

For the first time since it hosted the most colorful World Cup, South Africa is back at the mundial. Bafana Bafana entered their final fixture needing a win and, ironically, a little helping hand from their main group rival Nigeria. A clinical and assured 3-0 win over Rwanda — along with Nigeria’s 4-0 beating of erstwhile group leaders Benin Republic — secured South Africa’s ticket out of the most chaotic group in the qualifiers, with five wins, three draws and two losses. After missing out on the tournament three times, Bafana Bafana will be looking to make a competitive mark next year and perhaps qualify out of the group stage for the first time.

Côte d’Ivoire

A single point was the difference between Côte d’Ivoire and its competitive rival Gabon in Group F. The AFCON defending champions won eight out of their ten qualifying matches; the other two non-wins were draws in away fixtures against Kenya and Gabon. However, Gabon also won eight matches, with the decider coming down to the Elephant’s lone goal win over Gabon in June last year, as well as running riot in a 7-0 win against Seychelles last week, and an emphatic 3-0 victory against Kenya in the final fixture. Côte d’Ivoire will be hoping to finally cross the group stage threshold in their fourth World Cup appearance.