Record nine African teams reach FIFA World Cup Round of 32

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s 3–1 victory over Uzbekistan capped a landmark tournament for African football, as it made the Leopards the ninth team from the continent to reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 32.

From the initial list of ten African teams, only Tunisia failed to advance beyond the group stage.

The feat underlines the continent's growing influence in world football, with the possibility of more records to come in the knockout rounds.

From the latest group‑stage matches, Algeria and Ghana also booked their places in the next round.

The Desert Foxes secured progression with a 3–3 draw, going through as one of the eight best third‑placed teams.

Ghana, on the other hand, lost 2–1 to Croatia, but earlier results meant they still made it into the Round of 32.

Africa sets a new World Cup benchmark

The 2026 edition, the first to feature 48 teams and a Round of 32, has provided African nations with their strongest collective performance in World Cup history. Previously, only six African countries had reached the tournament's knockout stages, doing so on 11 occasions.

The nine African representatives to progress to the knockout phase are Algeria, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and South Africa. The teams will need to stay focused in their next matches, as tough matchups awaiting them as they seek to write more history. Most, however, will enter their knockout ties with growing confidence after impressive group‑stage performances.

Morocco continued the momentum generated by their historic 2022 FIFA World Cup semifinal run, while newcomers Cape Verde have emerged as one of the tournament's biggest surprise packages. This unprecedented representation in the knockout stages is likely to intensify calls for increased World Cup slots for African nations and greater recognition of the continent's football development.

Here are the fixtures that await the African teams:

South Africa vs Canada

Morocco vs Netherlands

Côte d'Ivoire vs Norway

DR Congo vs England

Senegal vs Belgium

Algeria vs Switzerland

Egypt vs Australia

Ghana vs Colombia

Cape Verde vs Argentina