Teams from the African continent have had an impressive showing at the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with nine of the 10 teams representing the continent qualifying for the knockout stage.

The Carthage Eagles of Tunisia were the only African team to crash out of the tournament at the preliminary stage, finishing last in Group F with no points after losing all three matches: 5-1 to Sweden, 4-0 to Japan and 3-1 to the Netherlands.

South Africa

After their 2-0 opening loss to co-hosts Mexico, South Africa drew 1-1 against Czechia and defeated South Korea by a lone goal to finish second in Group A with four points.

Morocco

In their opening match, Morocco shocked former champions and favourites Brazil by holding them to a 1-1 draw. The African side followed it up with two more victories: 1-0 against Scotland and 4-2 against Haiti.

The Qatar 2022 World Cup semi-finalists finished second in Group C with seven points, the same as first-placed Brazil, but were separated by goal difference.

Côte d’Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire defeated Ecuador by a lone goal and beat Curaçao 2-0 but lost 2-1 to Germany to finish second in Group E with six points, the same as first-placed Germany, who had a superior goal difference.

DR Congo

DR Congo shocked Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal by holding them to a 1-1 draw in their opening match, lost by a lone goal to Colombia, and defeated Uzbekistan 3-1 to finish third in Group K as one of the best third-placed teams with four points.

Senegal

African champions Senegal lost 3-1 to former champions France in their opening match, followed by another 3-2 loss to Norway. However, their resounding 5-0 victory over Iran ensured that they finished third in Group I with three points.

Algeria

Algeria’s opening match ended in a 3-0 loss to Argentina, with Lionel Messi scoring a hat-trick. The North Africans, however, went on to defeat Jordan 2-1 and draw 3-3 against Austria.

Algeria finished third in Group J with four points, the same as second-placed Austria, who had a superior goal difference.

Egypt

In their opening match, Egypt played a 1-1 draw against Belgium, recorded the same result against Iran, but defeated New Zealand 3-1 to finish second in Group G with five points, the same as first-placed Belgium, who had a superior goal difference.

Cape Verde

Cape Verde is the only team in the ongoing tournament to qualify for the round of 32 without winning a match. However, they also did not lose a game. Cape Verde held Saudi Arabia and former champions Spain to goalless draws, and Uruguay to a 2-2 draw.

They finished second in Group H with only three points, the fewest points of any team in the tournament to finish second in its group.

Ghana

Ghana started brightly with a lone-goal win over Panama in their opening match before playing a goalless draw against England and losing 2-1 to Croatia. The West Africans finished third in Group L with four points.

Other qualified teams

From Europe, 13 of the 16 teams advanced to the knockout stage. They are Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, France, Sweden, England, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Spain, Austria, Portugal, Croatia and Switzerland.

New Zealand, the only Oceanian team at the tournament, did not make it to the next round while, disappointingly, only Japan and Australia, out of the nine Asian teams, made it to the round of 32.

In North and Central America, only three of the six teams progressed to the next stage. They are the three co-hosts: Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Representing South America, five of the six teams advanced to the next stage. They are Brazil, Paraguay, Ecuador, Argentina and Colombia.

Below are the confirmed full 2026 World Cup round of 32 fixtures:

Sunday, June 28

Match 73: South Africa vs Canada, kick-off 8:00 p.m. – Los Angeles, USA

Monday, June 29

Match 76: Brazil vs Japan, kick-off 6:00 p.m. – Houston, USA

Match 74: Germany vs Paraguay, kick-off 9:30 p.m. – Foxborough, USA

Tuesday, June 30

Match 75: Netherlands vs Morocco, kick-off 2:00 a.m. – Guadalupe, Mexico

Match 78: Ivory Coast vs Norway, kick-off 6:00 p.m. – Arlington, USA

Match 77: France vs Sweden, kick-off 10:00 p.m. – New Jersey, USA

Wednesday, July 1

Match 79: Mexico vs Ecuador, kick-off 2:00 a.m. – Mexico City, Mexico

Match 80: England vs DR Congo, kick-off 5:00 p.m. – Atlanta, USA

Match 82: Belgium vs Senegal, kick-off 9:00 p.m. – Seattle, USA

Thursday, July 2

Match 81: USA vs Bosnia-Herzegovina, kick-off 1:00 a.m. – Santa Clara, USA

Match 84: Spain vs Austria, kick-off 8:00 p.m. – Los Angeles, USA

Friday, July 3

Match 83: Portugal vs Croatia, kick-off 12:00 a.m. – Toronto, Canada

Match 85: Switzerland vs Algeria, kick-off 4:00 a.m. – Vancouver, Canada

Match 88: Australia vs Egypt, kick-off 7:00 p.m. – Arlington, USA

Match 86: Argentina vs Cape Verde, kick-off 11:00 p.m. – Miami, USA

Match 87: The Black Stars will encounter Colombia at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday at GEHA Field in Kansas City, Missouri.