By: Hee-Dee Walenga
Before a single ball was kicked, the 2026 FIFA World Cup was set to be a historic one for Africa. For the first time, ten African teams participated in the World Cup. As the group stage concluded on Saturday, Africa continued to make more history.
South Africa, Egypt, Senegal, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Algeria qualified for the knockout stages of the World Cup, marking the largest number of
African teams to advance to the knockout stages in a single World Cup. Africa has never had more than two nations in the knockout stages of a World Cup (2014 and 2022).
No continent has a larger percentage of teams that qualified for the knockout stage than Africa. South America came closest with 83%, Europe 81%, North America 50%, Asia 22%, and Oceania 0%.
The expansion of the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams has proved to be a master stroke, allowing smaller nations to compete on the biggest stage in football.
The expansion has also shown that the gap between the traditional football powerhouses and the rest of the world is shrinking.
Arguably, no country exemplifies this more than Cape Verde. The nation of just 525,000 people qualified for their first-ever World Cup by topping their qualification group that included Cameroon and Angola.
They won seven of their ten qualifying matches, losing only one. They are the first African debutants to advance from the World Cup group stage since Ghana in 2006.
“I feel like I’m in a dream,” Cape Verde midfielder Deroy Duarte told the media after their final group game.
The nation of 18 islands is currently undefeated at the World Cup, collecting draws against Spain (0-0), Uruguay (2-2), and Saudi Arabia (0-0). The Blue Sharks will face defending champions, Argentina, in the Round of 32.
DR Congo’s World Cup run has been a fairytale as well. Competing in the World Cup for the first time as DR Congo (played in the 1974 World Cup as Zaire), the SADC nation began the tournament by holding tournament favorites, Portugal, to a 1-1 draw.
Newcastle United striker, Yoane Wissa, scored DR Congo’s first ever World Cup goal in that fixture, his first of three group stage goals at the tournament. He also debuted the now famous ‘Fimbu’ celebration to the world.
The Leopards advanced to the knockout round by getting their first ever World Cup victory after beating Uzbekistan 3-1 in their last group game. DR Congo will face England in the Round of 32.
South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, and Egypt also qualified for the knockout round for the first time in their history.
Playing in their fourth World Cup, Bafana Bafana advanced to the knockout round after beating South Korea 1-0 on the final matchday of group play. They lost 1-0 to Canada in the Round of 32.
Also participating in their fourth World Cup, Egypt made history by picking up their first-ever World Cup win by defeating New Zealand 3-1 before drawing 1-1 with Iran to seal knockout stage qualification. Facing Australia in the Round of 32, the Pharaohs will fancy their chances of qualifying for the Round of 16.
Senegal advanced to the Round of 32 by beating Iraq 5-0. The Lions of Teranga became the first African country to score five goals in a single World Cup fixture. The AFCON champions will face Belgium next.
Morocco, who hold the record of being the only African country to play in a World Cup semi-final (2022), will face the Netherlands in the Round of 32.
