June 6, 2026
African nations have long struggled to establish themselves among football’s elite at the FIFA World Cup, often finding it difficult to progress beyond the group stage.
At Italia ’90, Cameroon became the first African nation to reach the quarter-finals, while Ghana came agonisingly close to making history at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The Black Stars were denied a place in the semi-finals after Uruguay striker Luis Suarez handled the ball on the goal line in the dying moments of extra time before Ghana lost on penalties.
Africa’s greatest World Cup achievement, however, came at Qatar 2022 when Morocco became the first African and Arab nation to reach the semi-finals. The Atlas Lions defeated Belgium, Spain and Portugal before eventually losing to France in the last four and Croatia in the third-place match.
As the 2026 FIFA World Cup gets underway, here is a look at the African countries with the most wins in World Cup history.
