NORTH AFRICA IS MOVING TO AMERICA NEXT SUMMER
This week Algeria and Egypt booked their tickets to the FIFA World Cup 2026 this week with easy wins over Djibouti and Somalia respectively.
The Fennecs and the Pharoahs join Morocco and Tunisia as African qualifiers so far.
There are five more places open for CAF teams to reach the final, while a tenth country will enter the Inter-Confederation Play-Offs, meaning that 9 or 10 of the 54 African nations will be in the USA, Canada and Mexico next year.
What is striking is that all four countries that have booked their tickers are from north of the Sahara. The fifth North African country Libya, are third in group D but still in with a shout of making it via the playoffs, which would complete a clean sweep for the Maghreb (with the exception of Mauritania, eliminated from group B, and the Western Sahara, who are not FIFA-affiliated).
Of the traditional powers of sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal are topping their groups but Cameroon are second in theirs and not assured of transatlantic passage. Nor are Nigeria or South Africa, caught in the group C of death behind unlikely leaders Benin, who are on course for their first finals.
The Cheetahs visit Rwanda today, hoping striker Steve Mounie, who spent three years with Huddersfield Town between 2017 and 2020, can add to his five goals in qualification and propel his country closer to the World Cup. Meanwhile, the beleaguered Super Eagles of Nigeria must win in Lesotho to keep their American dream alive.
Cape Verde are of course the other exciting African World Cup story, and the latest instalment was an exciting 3-3 draw away at Libya, with the Blue Sharks grabbing two late goals to salvage a point in Tripoli.
The overall North African dominance seen in the qualifiers hitherto one can reasonably assign to the proximity of Europe and its established football culture and money, but historically the sub-Sahara has dominated the African Cup of Nations and bagged six of the last seven editions, most recently when Ivory Coast beat Nigeria in the 2023 final.
Morocco's semi-final finish in 2022 remains the high point of African football at World Cup finals. Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) did the next best, reaching the quarter-finals
Scotland qualify for 2026 World Cup.
(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile