In the tournament that kicked off on June 11th, nine teams made it from the group stage, the first time in the history of the FIFA World Cup that 90% of the African national teams qualified from the group stage of the global showpiece.
The teams that qualified include; Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and South Africa.
The tournament is the first FIFA World Cup to be hosted by three nations and the first to include 48 teams, an expansion from the previous 32-team format.
As the host nations, Canada, Mexico, and the United States all automatically qualified. Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan all made their World Cup debuts. Argentina are the defending champions, having won their third World Cup in 2022.
Prior to 2026, the global tournament featured 32 teams, and Africa was consistently allocated just five spots by FIFA. The new format of 10 teams gave African nations the opportunity to take as many teams to the knockout stage.
Out of the 10 African nations that participated in the expanded tournament, Tunisia was the sole country to be eliminated in the group stage after suffering three consecutive defeats.
Youth development bearing fruits
“On behalf of the CAF Member Associations that represent 54 African Countries, I would like to express our heartfelt congratulations to the national team players and technical teams of Algeria, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and South Africa for their hard-earned and well-deserved qualification to the FIFA World Cup Round of 32,” read a statement from Motsepe.
“The players and technical teams have made each of their countries proud and have also made the 1.6 billion people on the African Continent and in the Diaspora, proud.
“The global competitiveness and world-class quality of African football is being recognised and highlighted by the victories and qualification to the FIFA World Cup, Round of 32, by each of the nine African national teams.”
Motsepe's statement added: “The hard work and investments in youth football development, coaching, professional football leagues and football infrastructure in each of CAF’s 54 Member Associations and in the CAF Competitions are bearing fruit.
“The governance, transparency, management, financial and auditing best practices that have been introduced have attracted new sponsors and partners and these financial partnerships have contributed to the development and growth of African football.
“I also want to congratulate the nine CAF Member Association Presidents and their Executive Committees and to thank the African Governments for their cooperation and support of the CAF Member Associations in their countries.
“CAF wishes each and every one of the nine African national teams that will continue competing in the FIFA World Cup, everything of the best and we are confident that they will continue to make their countries and Africa extremely proud.”
South Africa will be the first African team to play in the Round of 32 when they enter the pitch against Canada at Los Angeles Stadium on Sunday.
Bafana Bafana made history on Wednesday when the country qualified for the second round of the global tournament for the first time ever after beating South Korea 1-0 in Monterrey, Mexico, courtesy of a lone strike from Thapelo Maseko.
After South Africa, the next African team will be Morocco when they take on the Netherlands at Monterrey Stadium in Mexico on Monday, before Ivory Coast take on Norway at AT&T Stadium on Tuesday.
DR Congo will face England on Wednesday at Atlanta Stadium, the same day Senegal will confront Belgium at Seattle Stadium.
Algeria will confront Switzerland, Egypt take on Australia, Cape Verde come up against Lionel Messi’s Argentina, and Ghana conclude Round of 32 matches for African teams against Colombia.
