Nine of Africa’s ten representatives at the 2026 FIFA World Cup advanced to the round of 32, doubling the continent’s previous knockout-stage record of two teams, set in 2014 and 2022, according to ESPN. Morocco, South Africa, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cape Verde, Egypt, Congo and Algeria all reached the knockouts.
South Africa, Ivory Coast and Cape Verde made the knockout stage for the first time in their history. Congo secured its first-ever World Cup knockout berth with a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan, while Algeria advanced despite a wild 3-3 draw with Austria, scoring a late go-ahead goal before the Austrians equalised in the final play.
The expanded 48-team format helped drive the historic run, with African teams drawing marquee round of 32 opponents, according to CAF. Cape Verde’s World Cup debut continued against defending champions Argentina, while South Africa faced Canada, Senegal faced Belgium and Congo faced England.
Morocco went furthest, taking seven points in the group stage including a 4-2 win over Haiti, then holding tournament favourites Brazil to a 1-1 draw before falling 2-0 to eventual finalist France in the quarterfinals, matching the semifinal-adjacent depth of their run in Qatar in 2022.
“Now every African team can dream big, we can see that now youngest players come earlier, and we showed our team with young talent, so that’s good,” forward Yoane Wissa said. The performance builds on momentum from events like the Africa Tech Festival in Cape Town, part of a broader year of African institutions stepping onto the global stage.
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