Written by: Ayman Ragab
The group stage matches of the 2026 World Cup have concluded, and the African teams have achieved remarkable success, with 9 out of 10 participating teams qualifying for the round of 32. The goal of these teams now is to reach the round of 16.
The 2026 World Cup enters its decisive phase this Sunday with the start of the Round of 32. In this edition, several teams have managed to break their losing streaks by advancing from the group stage. Of the ten participating teams, nine successfully qualified from the group stage, highlighting the strong presence of the African continent in this expanded 48-team tournament. Tunisia, however, suffered a humiliating defeat, losing all three of its matches, conceding 12 goals while scoring only two.
Tunisian disappointment
With the exception of the Tunisian national team, all other African teams successfully qualified from the group stage, achieving impressive results, including Cape Verde’s qualification to the round of 32 in its first participation in the World Cup finals, without any defeat, despite facing two teams that had previously won the title, Uruguay and Spain. The “Blue Shark” team even managed to occupy second place in its group, behind Spain, ahead of Uruguay and Saudi Arabia.
Overall, five African nations finished second in their groups (Morocco, South Africa, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, and Egypt), while the other four were among the best third-placed teams (Senegal, Ghana, DR Congo, and Algeria) out of eight out of twelve groups. Notably, no African team won its group.
The Round of 32 matches are now underway, a knockout tournament. These matches will take place from Sunday, June 28th to Saturday, July 4th, 2026. This is a completely new tournament, starting with the knockout stage. For the qualified teams, any setback means elimination from the competition.
Intense confrontations
South Africa, who qualified as the second-best team in Group A behind Mexico and ahead of South Korea and the Czech Republic, will face Canada (runners-up in Group B), one of the two World Cup host nations. The South African team, who caused a major upset by defeating South Korea 1-0 in their decisive match, have all the necessary qualities to overcome Canada and reach the Round of 16, especially since the match will be held in Los Angeles, USA, and not in Canada.
Next, Ivory Coast, who finished second in their group behind Germany and ahead of Ecuador, will face Norway on Tuesday, June 30. Norway finished second in Group I, behind France, one of the favorites to win the World Cup, and ahead of Senegal. After their 3-2 victory over Senegal's Lions of Teranga, the Norwegian team is considered a strong side and boasts one of the world's most dangerous strikers, Erling Haaland, who tormented Senegal. However, the match remains wide open, given Norway's defensive weaknesses, having conceded seven goals while scoring eight. This suggests that Ivory Coast's attackers have opportunities to exploit this vulnerability.
On the same day, Morocco, runners-up in Group C, will face the Netherlands, winners of Group F, in Monterrey, Mexico, in what promises to be a thrilling match between two attacking sides who have shown great potential in the group stage, each recording two wins and a draw. The game is expected to be very close and could be decided by a narrow margin.
On Wednesday, July 3, Cape Verde, who achieved a historic feat by qualifying second in Group H behind Spain and ahead of Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, will face Argentina, the reigning World Cup champions, led by the brilliant Lionel Messi, the group's current top scorer. This means Cape Verde will have a very difficult task in the Round of 32. However, Cape Verdean player Deroy Duarte says: “People talk about Messi. Of course, he is one of the greatest footballers of all time and deserves all the respect, but we are not going to the Round of 32 to admire Argentina. We are going there to win.”.
After qualifying as the second-best team in Group G behind Belgium, the Egyptian Pharaohs finally broke their World Cup curse, advancing beyond the group stage for the first time in four appearances. In the Round of 32, they will face Australia, runners-up in Group D behind the United States. It's a match within reach for the Egyptians, who, with some effort, can reach the Round of 16. The only concern is the injury to their star player, Mohamed Salah, sustained during the match against Iran.
Qualified despite two defeats
Senegal, despite two defeats, qualified for the Round of 32 as one of the best third-placed teams thanks to their resounding 5-0 victory over Iraq, also benefiting from positive results in the other group matches played on Friday and Saturday. The Lions of Teranga will face Belgium and will need to rectify the mistakes they made in their matches against France (1-3) and Norway (2-3) if they are to progress beyond the Round of 32. The task will not be impossible, especially for a team that somehow managed to avoid relegation.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, nicknamed the Tigers, qualified after a stunning comeback against minnows Uzbekistan. After trailing at halftime, the Tigers scored three goals in the second half to advance to the Round of 32. In their second World Cup appearance, the Congolese progressed from the group stage and will face England, one of the tournament favorites.
Ghana also qualified for the Round of 32 despite losing to Croatia (1-2) in their final group stage match. However, thanks to a win against Panama and a draw with England (0-0), the Black Stars finished third in Group L. In the Round of 32, the Black Stars are expected to face Colombia, the Group K winners, who finished ahead of Portugal and the Democratic Republic of Congo and are considered one of the strongest teams at this stage of the group stage.
Algeria finally qualified for the Round of 32 after a thrilling match against Austria. The game ended in a 3-3 draw, a result that saw both teams advance and eliminate Iran. The Algerians scored their third goal in stoppage time (90+2), while Austria, already eliminated, snatched a draw in the dying seconds of stoppage time (90+5). Algeria will now face Switzerland in the Round of 32 in what is expected to be a very close match.
