African 2026 World Cup Qualifying: Key Facts And Figures

African 2026 World Cup Qualifying: Key Facts And Figures

Mohamed Salah, the prolific Liverpool forward, has been a standout performer in the African 2026 World Cup qualifiers, leading the goal-scoring chart with six goals for Egypt. The 32-year-old’s campaign began spectacularly, scoring four goals in Egypt’s 6-0 victory over Djibouti in Cairo on matchday one. He also added goals in away matches against Guinea-Bissau and Ethiopia.

Algeria’s Mohamed Amoura, a striker for Wolfsburg, is second on the list with five goals, including a hat-trick in Algeria’s 5-1 win over Mozambique on matchday six…READ MORE…

Surprising Results

Group C has seen the most unexpected outcomes so far. South Africa, Rwanda, Benin, Nigeria, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe make up the group, and it has witnessed several shocks. Lesotho managed to hold Nigeria to a draw, while Rwanda triumphed over South Africa, adapting better to the rain-soaked pitch. Benin came from behind to defeat Nigeria, and this week, Tawanda Chirewa of Zimbabwe scored an added-time goal to earn a 1-1 draw against Nigeria.

Popular Scorelines

The most common scoreline across the qualifiers has been 1-0, with 33 of the 151 matches ending with a solitary goal. Second most frequent were 2-1 and 2-0 results, with 21 matches each. Draws also featured prominently, with 19 1-1 stalemates and 15 goalless draws. Larger scorelines were rare, with only three matches ending 5-0 and just two with scorelines of 6-0 or 5-1. The most dominant result came from Ivory Coast, who thrashed Seychelles 9-0.

Leading Teams

Egypt, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Algeria, and Tunisia have confirmed their seeding status by topping their groups with four matchdays remaining. There are two more rounds in September and October.

Cameroon, the African team with the most World Cup appearances (eight), and Senegal are in second place in their respective groups, just one point behind leaders Cape Verde and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mali and Nigeria, the other two first-seeded teams, are fourth in their groups, six points behind leaders Ghana and South Africa.

Perfect Morocco

Morocco, the surprise semi-finalists at the 2022 World Cup, is the only team with a perfect record in the qualifiers so far, winning all five of their matches. The Atlas Lions defeated Tanzania twice (2-0), Zambia (2-1), Congo Brazzaville (6-0), and Niger (2-1). Notably, Morocco hosted the away fixtures against Congo and Niger due to the latter teams’ lack of FIFA-approved stadiums.