Despite Cape Verde heroics, round 32 hurts African teams

Africa’s representation at the 2026 World Cup produced a record nine teams reaching the round of 32, yet seven of those sides, South Africa, DR Congo, Senegal, Algeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Cape Verde, were eliminated in the space of a few days, leaving only Morocco and Egypt to fly the continent’s flag in North America, PETER AKINBO writes

For years, the Confederation of African Football had argued that five automatic slots were insufficient for its 54 member nations, pointing out that only nine per cent of African countries were represented at previous World Cups compared to about half of South America’s members.

With the expanded 48-team format handing Africa nine guaranteed places, plus a tenth secured by DR Congo through the intercontinental play-offs, there had been quiet concern over how the continent’s representatives would fare on the bigger stage.

That concern initially appeared unfounded, as nine of Africa’s ten representatives progressed from the group stage, outperforming both Asia and the Concacaf region, with only Tunisia failing to advance after a group-stage campaign in which they trailed for a record 256 minutes across their three matches, breaking a mark that had stood since Mexico’s 1998 World Cup.

However, the continent’s fortunes turned sharply in the round of 32, where narrow, single-goal defeats accounted for most of the exits. Senegal appeared destined for the last sixteen after leading Belgium 2-0 with four minutes remaining, only to concede twice before extra time and lose to a contentious penalty deep into the additional period.

Cape Verde pushed defending champions, Argentina, to extra time and looked capable of forcing a shootout before an own goal in the 111th minute ended their remarkable run.

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Ivory Coast, who had also led Germany in the group stage without winning, suffered a similarly agonising defeat after drawing level against Norway, while DR Congo, who had led England for long spells, ran out of steam in the closing stages of their last-32 tie.

Ghana, meanwhile, created little after falling behind early against Colombia, and South Africa, despite a battling display, lost to a stoppage-time goal against hosts Canada, a defeat that underlined how far the Bafana Bafana have fallen from the side that reached the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations semifinal.

Only Algeria’s exit, a comfortable defeat to Switzerland, reflected a genuine gap in quality, though Bayer Leverkusen midfielder, Ibrahim Maza, again stood out in a struggling side that had also conceded needlessly in each of their group matches.

Egypt and Morocco both progressed on penalties, continuing a pattern that has repeated itself at several recent World Cups, where two African sides reaching the last-16 has become something of a ceiling rather than a springboard, a feat previously achieved at the 2014 and 2022 editions.

Belgium head coach, Rudi Garcia, suggested that inexperience in closing out matches against higher-ranked opposition remained a recurring theme for African teams, a view reflected in how Senegal, Ivory Coast and DR Congo all held leads or parity against major footballing nations without managing to see out the results.

The pattern points to a continent whose base of competitive nations has widened considerably, evidenced by the record number of teams reaching the group stage’s business end, but whose ability to convert strong positions into knockout victories against the sport’s traditional powers remains a work in progress.