CAF President Dr. Patrice Motsepe has congratulated the nine African national teams that qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32, marking the first time in the history of the FIFA World Cup that 90 percent of African national teams qualified from the group stage. The teams that advanced are Algeria, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and South Africa. Tunisia was the sole African nation eliminated, suffering three consecutive defeats.
“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,” Motsepe said. “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.”
What’s Behind the Surge
Prior to 2026, the World Cup featured 32 teams, and Africa was consistently allocated just five spots by FIFA. The expansion to a 48-team format gave African nations the opportunity to take far more teams to the knockout stage than ever before. Africa benefited directly from the expansion, receiving nine automatic places, while DR Congo secured an additional spot by beating Jamaica in the final of an inter-continental play-off.
Motsepe credited the result to years of structural investment: “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.” He added that improved “governance, transparency, management, financial and auditing best practices” had attracted new sponsors and partners whose financial backing has contributed to the growth of African football.
Motsepe also thanked the nine qualifying member associations and their executive committees, as well as African governments for their cooperation and support, closing with a message of confidence: “CAF wishes each and every one of the 9 African National Teams that will continue competing in the FIFA World Cup 2026 everything of the best and we are confident that they will continue to make their countries and Africa extremely proud.”
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