African football boss Patrice Motsepe said on Sunday that hard work and investment in youth, coaching and infrastructure had paid off at the 2026 World Cup.
Nine of the 10 African qualifiers for the expanded 48-team tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico have reached the knockout stages.
Algeria, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal and South Africa will feature in the round of 32. Only Tunisia missed the match, losing all three games.
“Hard work and investment in youth football, coaching, professional leagues and infrastructure in each of the 54 CAF member associations is paying off,” said CAF President Motsepe.
“I congratulate the nine presidents of the CAF associations and their executive committees and thank African governments for their cooperation and support.
“The best practices introduced in governance, transparency, finance and auditing attracted new sponsors and partners and (helped) the development and growth of African football.
“CAF wishes the nine national teams all the best and we are confident they will continue to make their country and Africa extremely proud.”
Also read | African teams reach knockouts while Asian teams falter
Africa achieved a 90% success rate in qualifying for the second round – the highest figure among FIFA’s six continental regions. South America (83.33%) came second and Europe (81.25%) third.
In 2022, Morocco became the first World Cup semi-finalist from Africa. The Atlas Lions defeated Belgium, Spain and Portugal on their way to the penultimate stage before losing to France.
The former Portuguese colony of Cape Verde is a sparsely populated archipelago of ten islands off the west coast of Africa and the second smallest country in terms of size participating in the global showpiece.
After beating eight-time World Cup participants Cameroon in African qualifying, the Blue Sharks drew against star-studded Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia to finish second in Group H.
Africa benefited when FIFA expanded the World Cup from 32 teams during the last tournament. It was allocated nine places and DR Congo defeated Jamaica in the final of an intercontinental play-off.
Published on June 29, 2026
