How Africans blow away hard-earned FIFA World Cup pedigree in Ro32
Nine African nations featured in a historic Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but only two emerged victorious as North Africans once again came to the rescue of a continent still chasing pedigree on the grandest stage.
When the group stages of the tournament concluded a few days ago, the continent of Africa was at the top of the discussion thanks to its impeccable performances, with nine out of 10 representatives progressing to the second round.
With Tunisia the odd one out, the continent was represented across all regions, with the West dominant thanks to the quartet of Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cape Verde, and Ghana, all of which unfortunately didn’t make it past round 32.
The North African trio of Morocco, Egypt, and Algeria also lined up in the first-ever FIFA World Cup Round of 32. At the same time, South Africa represented the Southerners and DR Congo, on their return since first appearing as Zaire in 1974, completed the set repping Central Africa.
However, the glee disappeared at the end of the first elimination round, with nine now down to two, no thanks to several self-inflicted defeats and questionable administrative power play that translated into a chaotic display on the pitch.
From Morocco’s continued dynasty at the biggest stage to Senegal’s embarrassing bottle job, while not forgetting Cape Verde’s historic run, here is how Africans’ pride was shattered in the company of real competition.
How Africans blow away hard-earned pedigree
The extended FIFA World Cup format gave Africa the chance to have up to 10 representatives, which they ultimately claimed thanks to DR Congo’s progress in the intercontinental playoff back in March.
Despite heavy criticism from European countries that the continent had been allowed too many slots than deserved, CAF teams pulled some dazzling group stage displays that shamed their critics.
Some of Africa’s best Group stage performances Morocco headlines this, picking up seven points in the same group as Brazil, Scotland, and Haiti, only finishing runner-up to the record champions on goal difference.
Cape Verde comes next with incredible defensive resilience that saw them finish the group campaign without a loss, drawing all three games, including clean sheets against European champions Spain and Saudi Arabia.
DR Congo also finished as one of the best runner-ups, thanks to their draw with Portugal and comeback win over Uzbekistan, while Ivory Coast and Egypt finished runner-ups in their respective groups, with the Pharaohs not losing a game.
South Africa qualified despite a disastrous performance in their opening fixture against Mexico, while Senegal set a record for the continent’s biggest win in a 5-0 scoreline against Iraq to progress despite losing their opening two games.
Ghana practically secured qualification after holding off England to a draw in their opening game, and Algeria earned a draw in a six-goal thriller to finish third in Group J, despite losing 3-0 to Argentina in their opening game.
It was a round of resilience for the continent, and all the teams, except Tunisia, displayed why Africa deserves the 10 slots and maybe could do with more, since heavyweights like Nigeria and Cameroon were missing.
However, the reverse was the case in the Round of 32 as the same teams gave up the game in comfortable positions, proving the critics right that African teams are not at the level of their counterparts from Europe and South America.
How African teams got knocked out in the knockouts
South Africa kick-started the horrible run against co-host Canada, as they were second best all game in a contest that should have been more even, and the Canucks ultimately got a deserved win thanks to Stephen Eustaquio’s 92nd-minute strike.
However, Morocco restored pride by knocking out the Netherlands on penalties after scoring late at the end of normal time through Issa Diop to cancel out Cody Gakpo’s goal earlier in the second half, reaching back-to-back round of 16.
Ivory Coast just fell short after also conceding a late winner to Norway’s Erling Haaland, 12 minutes after substitute Amad Diallo had scored a brilliant solo goal to cancel out Antonio Nusa’s first-half strike.
The late heartbreak streak continued into DR Congo’s clash with England, where two late goals from Harry Kane helped the Three Lions secure a comeback win after the Leopard had taken a seventh-minute lead through Brian Cipenga.
Later on the same day, Senegal looked set to become the second African team to reach the round of 16 after leading 2-0 thanks to goals in either half from Habib Diarra and Ismaila Sarr, with the latter equaling Roger Miller’s four-goal record for most goals in a single World Cup edition by an African.
However, disaster struck Pape Thiaw and his minions as they allowed the Belgian Red Devils back in the game with two late goals through Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans, with the latter ending up scoring a 125th-minute penalty to send the Teranga Lions packing.
Algeria made a bright start to their clash with Switzerland as they attempted to make it a perfect round progression for the North, but goals from Breel Embolo and Ruben Vargas punished them for their wastefulness aa Swiss set up a clash with Colombia.
As expected, Egypt went past Australia but in a rather disappointing fashion as it had to be settled in a penalty shootout after Mohamed Hany’s historic second own goal of the tournament canceled out Emam Ashour’s first-half opener for the Pharaohs.
Cape Verde finished the tournament without losing in normal time following their 3-2 extra-time loss to Argentina. The Blue Sharks faced Spain, Uruguay, and Saudi Arabia in the group stage and didn’t lose, thanks to their standout goalkeeper, Vozinha.
Ghana, in the first-half fixture of the round, surrendered to an early Jhon Arias goal for Colombia to lose 1-0, making it a round of disappointment for Africa, who now look up to the duo of Morocco and Egypt for their chance of winning and their first-ever FIFA World Cup title.
The road ahead for Africa
Attention now turns to the round of 16, where Morocco will be taking on the co-host in a match they will be much favoured to go through, but will really need the support of Africans to neutralize the massive home support.
Egypt will clash with defending champions Argentina later in the round, and will be playing as the underdog against a nation that has won all their games and kept those three clean sheets in the process.
