Africa’s performance at the World Cup reached its peak in Qatar in 2022, when Morocco became the first team from the African continent to reach the semi-finals.
His performance in the quarterfinals was also noteworthy. The Atlas Lions were only the fourth African nation to reach the quarterfinals.
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Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana are the other three African teams that have made it to the quarter-finals, but North Africa has dominated the continent’s success at the World Cup and African Cup of Nations.
Egypt has a record of seven AFCON championships, and three of the top five African qualifiers for the World Cup are Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria.
Al Jazeera breaks down the chances of sub-Saharan countries to outdo their northern neighbors in the tournament, which starts on June 11:
senegal
World Cup appearances: 4 times – 2002, 2018, 2022, 2026
Best result: Quarterfinals
Overall result: P12 W5 D3 L4 F16 A17
FIFA ranking: 14th place
Prediction: Lost in the quarterfinals
Senegal will approach the 2026 World Cup with a growing sense of unfairness. The Lions of Teranga were stripped of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) title by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and a mid-match walk-off by Senegalese players and staff invalidated the final in January, with Morocco later awarded the trophy along with a 3-0 victory.
In 2002, Senegal defied expectations and advanced to the quarterfinals in their first World Cup appearance in a tournament co-hosted by Japan and South Korea.
More than 20 years later, expectations have risen, perhaps the highest of all African teams, including Morocco.
The depth of their 26-man squad is seen as their biggest strength against their continental neighbors, but their star power is also the envy of their rivals.
Sadio Mane remains the country’s biggest export. Midfield mainstay Papu Gueye, goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and captain Kalidou Koulibaly would add color to almost any team in the competition.
All three are French-born and have their sights set on further challenges for the two-time tournament champion.
A 1-0 victory over then-defending champion France in the 2002 tournament marked Senegal’s emergence as a soccer powerhouse. The group, which will face each other for the first time, will face Didier Deschamps’ team on June 16 in New York.
Senegal national team coach Pape Bouna Thiau, who moved to France at the age of 17, said: “It’s always fun to play against France. France is a country we know well.”
“If I lose even one second of faith that I can win the World Cup with Senegal, I will resign,” he added.
The Senegalese group was completed by Iraq and Norway.
ghana
World Cup appearances: 5 times – 2006, 2010, 2014, 2022, 2026
Best result: Quarterfinals
Overall result: P15 W5 D3 L7 F18 A23
FIFA ranking: 74th place
Prediction: Lost in the quarterfinals
Ghana has only missed the World Cup once since their debut in 2006.
Four years after their global debacle, they became the third African team to reach the quarter-finals of the 2010 tournament in Germany.
The path to this tournament has not been smooth, and due to poor results, veteran Portuguese Carlos Queiroz replaced Otto Addo, delaying the change of coach.
The German-born former Ghana international led his country to the 2022 Qatar tournament, but was sacked in early April after missing out on the final AFCON qualification and suffering heavy defeats in four high-profile games in November and March.
It will be the fifth consecutive World Cup for 73-year-old Queiroz, whose previous African experiences include South Africa and Egypt, where he was Real Madrid manager and Alex Ferguson’s right-hand man at Manchester United.
Group L, where they will face Panama, England and Croatia, looks like a “group of death” in the early stages of the tournament, but with Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo leading the powerful attack, there are high hopes for Ghana to make a breakthrough.
“I think this country has huge potential. This is a country of football players,” Queiroz said.
However, the Black Stars will be without Tottenham forward Mohamed Kudus, the team’s talisman and the driving force behind their past two qualifying successes, due to injury.
Ivory Coast
World Cup appearances: 4 times – 2006, 2010, 2014, 2026
Best result: Group stage
Overall result: P9 W3 D1 L5 F13 A14
FIFA ranking: 34th place
Prediction: Lost in the quarterfinals
Ivory Coast’s return to the world stage after a 12-year hiatus has come with a heavy heart following the retirement of some of their greatest players, including Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba.
It has been a long rebuild for the Ivorians, but they have won two AFCON titles since their last World Cup appearance.
A youthful attack led by teenage attacker Yann Diomande, alongside Manchester United’s Simon Adingra and Amad Diallo, will be key to their chances.
When they held AFCON two years ago, Cote d’Ivoire almost lost in the group stage, but in the final match of the season they promoted Emmers Fae from assistant manager and won the championship.
“I believe Ivory Coast has the potential to achieve something extraordinary. Why not aim for the final?” Fay said ahead of the tournament, which begins with matches against Curaçao, Ecuador and former world champions Germany.
cape verde
Number of World Cup appearances: 1 – 2026
Best finish: NA
Overall record: NA
FIFA ranking: 69th place
Prediction: Group stage elimination
Cape Verde, one of the first-time participating countries, has a population of about 600,000 people and is the third smallest country to qualify in the tournament’s long history.
They first appeared in AFCON in 2013, reaching the quarter-finals, a feat they repeated in 2023.
With Uruguay, Saudi Arabia and European champions Spain awaiting them in the group stage, the task ahead of them, which will be largely led by a squad of players from the diaspora, is daunting.
“We were always aware of our talent, but we didn’t always believe that it could take us so far beyond what we had achieved before,” said Bubista, who was named Africa’s Coach of the Year in 2025.
“So it took courage to face any opponent. The first step to success was to truly believe in our potential. In other words, we changed the mindset of our players.”
South Africa
World Cup appearances: 4 times – 1998, 2002, 2010, 2026
Best result: Group stage
Overall result: P9 W2 D4 L3 F11 A16
FIFA ranking: 60th place
Prediction: Lost in the round of 32 stage
After qualifying for the 1998 World Cup and jump-starting their return to the international scene, South Africa’s fortunes have taken a turn for the worse over the past 16 years.
For a country hoping to reap the benefits of strong domestic growth towards North America, reaching the finals for the first time since 2010 feels like a long time coming.
South African club Mamelodi Sundowns are the new African Champions League winners, with eight of their players playing for Bafana Bafana. There are also eight players from domestic league champions Orlando Pirates, who led Sundowns to the title by one point.
Belgian-born South African national team coach Hugo Bruce said of the 26-man selection: “We have the best squad of players this season. They have a lot of experience at a high level.”
“I’m certainly happy that Sundowns won the Champions League because I was worried that if they lost we would have a very disappointed group of players, so now they’re all confident and that helps a lot.”
South Africa is in the other so-called “Group of Death” and will face the Czech Republic, South Korea and co-host Mexico in the opening games of the tournament.
Dr. Congo
World Cup appearances: 2 – 1974 and 2026
Best result: Group stage
Overall score: P3 W0 D0 L3 F0 A14
FIFA ranking: 46th place
Prediction: Lost in the quarterfinals
DRC’s only previous appearance was in the 1974 final in West Germany, when it was still known as Zaire, making them the first African team from south of the Sahara to qualify for the World Cup.
As the current continental champions, they defeated Yugoslavia 9-0, but it did little to raise the flag in Africa at the time.
Since then, much has changed on this continent and its second largest country. The Congolese players will arrive in North America with a higher FIFA ranking than three of the other five sub-Saharan qualifiers.
It took two playoffs to reach this tournament. In Africa, the Congolese defeated Cameroon and Nigeria, and in the intercontinental playoffs they beat Jamaica in extra time.
Most of the squad are European-born, either from Belgium, France or Switzerland, with London-born Aaron Wan-Bissaka also previously called up for England but missed out on an injury.
“We are very proud. A whole generation has not been able to see their national team at the World Cup, and now they will be able to see their national team at the World Cup,” said French coach Sébastien Desables.
