Senegal and Ivory Coast confirm places at 2026 FIFA World Cup; Morocco breaks Spain’s record

Senegal and Ivory Coast won convincingly on Tuesday to fill the last automatic places reserved for Africa at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Senegal were the most impressive winners, beating Mauritania 4-0, while Ivory Coast defeated Kenya 3-0.

The duo will be at the global showpiece in the United States, Canada and Mexico together with Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia and South Africa.

Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and Nigeria kept alive hopes of expanding African representation to ten countries by finishing in the top four ranked second places.

They will meet in two one-match semi-finals and a final in Morocco in November, with the winner advancing to the intercontinental play-offs in March, with two World Cup places up for grabs.

READ ALSO | South Africa qualifies for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, returning for the first time since 2010

Former Liverpool star Sadio Mane scored just before and after half-time for Group B toppers Senegal, while Iliman Ndiaye and Habib Diallo also scored for the Teranga Lions.

Senegal finished with 24 points, two more than DR Congo, which won 1-0 against Sudan in Kinshasa through a goal by Theo Bongonda.

Manchester United winger Amad Diallo completed the scoring for Ivory Coast, who took the lead from the seventh minute in a convincing win over Kenya in Abidjan.

Franck Kessie gave the reigning African champions the lead and Yan Diomande scored the second goal shortly after half-time.

Ivory Coast topped Group F with 26 points, one more than Gabon. Gambia defeated the Seychelles 7-0 and came third.

In another result, Morocco set a new record of 16 consecutive wins by a national team when it ended its qualifying campaign with a 1–0 home win over Congo.

Youssef En-Nesyri scored in the 63rd minute in Rabat to ensure Morocco finished its Group E fixture with eight wins from eight matches, the only side in the African preliminaries with a 100 percent record.

The victory surpassed the record of 15 set by Spain in 12 months between June 2008 and June 2009.

Morocco last failed to win an international match when they drew 0-0 with Mauritania in a friendly in March 2024, but have since recorded victories in seven World Cup qualifiers, six qualifiers for this year’s Africa Cup of Nations final and three friendlies.

(With input from REUTERS)

Published on October 15, 2025