African teams rewrite World Cup history with record nine in last 32 - Businessday NG

African football has reached an unprecedented milestone at the FIFA 2026 World Cup, with nine of the continent’s 10 representatives qualifying for the Round of 32 in the most successful campaign in Africa’s World Cup history.

The expanded 48-team tournament has provided African nations with their greatest collective achievement, surpassing all previous editions. Before 2026, only six African countries had ever reached the World Cup knockout stages, doing so on just 11 occasions.

The nine African teams to advance are Algeria, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and South Africa. Tunisia were the continent’s only casualty in the group stage.

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