After 23 months of competition and 530 games we finally have the World Cup qualifying nations from CAF. We’re listing them in the reverse order in which they earned their berth, most recent first. There were three groups whose winner was decided today, on the final match day of group qualifying!
Group B: Senegal
Date Qualified: Oct. 14, 2025
Record: 7W, 3D, 0L, +18 GD (24 pts.)
All Senegal needed was a draw, but they brought in the A-team to defeat Mauritania at home. Sadio Mané netted a brace on either side of halftime to lift the Lions of Téranga into an unassailable position atop the group.
Group F: Côte D’Ivoire
Date Qualified: Oct. 14, 2025
Record: 8W, 2D, 0L, +25 GD (26 pts.)
It took seven minutes for Franck Kessié to get the goal that would keep Côte D’Ivoire unbeaten in qualifying. Yan Diomande would add a second in the 54th minute to give Les Éléphants a comfortable cushion. The side went the entire qualifying campaign without conceding a goal (along with Tunisia). Very impressive.
Group C: South Africa
Date Qualified: Oct. 14, 2025
Record: 5W, 3D, 2L, +6 GD (18 pts.)
You rarely see such dramatic shifts between three teams in the final games of qualification, but that’s what we got. Benin was a surprise leader; Nigeria was a surprise third place side. And surprise, surprise… it’s South Africa who ends up getting the ticket to the going to the U.S. Poor Benin, they were so close but couldn’t seal the deal.
Group D: Cape Verde
Date Qualified: Oct. 13, 2025
Record: 7W, 2D, 1L, +8 GD (23 pts.)
You can read all about this historic qualification here.
Group I: Ghana
Date Qualified: Oct. 12, 2025
Record: 8W, 1D, 1L, +17 GD (25 pts.)
The Black Stars might have failed to qualify for AFCON (like Cape Verde), but will look on this achievement as some comfort.
Group G: Algeria
Date Qualified: Oct. 9, 2025
Record: 8W, 1D, 1L, +16 GD (25 pts.)
The Fennecs locked in their position atop the group with A 3 – 0 win over Somalia on Matchday 9 locked the Fennecs into the top spot in Group G. They became the fourth and last North African nation to do so (Libya was eliminated on the same day).
Group A: Egypt
Date Qualified: Oct. 8, 2025
Record: 8W, 2D, 0L, +18 GD (26 pts.)
The Pharaohs are coming to America! No, it’s not an Eddie Murphy movie. Mohamed Salah and the Egyptian national team clinched their spot on Matchday 9 with a win over Djibouti. Salah also led all players in the qualifying stage with nine goals.
Group H: Tunisia
Date Qualified: Sept. 8, 2025
Record: 9W, 1D, 0L, +22 GD (28 pts.)
Having witnessed first hand the party after Tunisian club l’Esperance defeated LAFC in the Club World Cup, I would strongly recommend going to one of the Tunisia matches, just for the atmosphere. They also went the entire qualifying campaign without conceding a goal (along with Côte d’Ivoire).
Group E: Morocco
Date Qualified: Sept. 5, 2025
Record: 8W, 0D, 0L, +20 GD (24 pts.)
Their final game against Congo today was a lame duck, as Morocco punched their ticket nearly five weeks ago. There was little challenge for the Atlas Lions in qualifying; their nearest competition Namibia is eight points behind them. On Sunday in the U-20 World Cup quarterfinals, Morocco defeated the U.S.A. 3 – 1. This means that while the present of soccer in Morocco is strong; the future is bright too.
The Second Round Playoff
Here are the four teams who qualified for the second round playoffs, to be held in November during the next international break.
Sharp-eyed observers will notice that each team has only eight games in their total, not ten. Because Eriteria dropped out of the tournament, that left Group H with only five teams (instead of six). To ensure parity among the second-place teams, games against the last place team in each group were removed from the total.
