Ambitious Morocco lead the World Cup charge for Africa

Despite being viewed as villains on the continent on the back of how they treated their fellow African soccer heavyweights Senegal in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final, Morocco come into the 2026 Fifa World Cup as heavy favourites to advance the furthest out of the 10 African teams participating in the latest instalment of the quadrennial soccer extravaganza. However, the Atlas Lions may not reach as far as they did four years ago in Qatar.

They orchestrated one of the most memorable World Cup campaigns ever stitched together by an African team in 2022, reaching the semifinals. Previously, the best displays by African countries had only ended with their reaching the quarterfinals.

Quarterfinal curse broken

In 1990, Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions, led by 38-year-old striker Roger Milla, broke the quarterfinal glass ceiling when they danced to the last eight before being felled 3-2 by England in extra time. Next were the Senegalese, who reached the quarterfinals in 2002 in their debut World Cup.

Few people will have forgotten Ghana’s heartbreak during the first World Cup hosted on African soil, in South Africa in 2010. The Black Stars dazzled as they successfully navigated a group featuring Germany, ­Serbia and Australia in just their second appearance on the global stage.

However, they were vanquished in the quarterfinals by two-time World Cup winners Uruguay, falling to a 4-2 defeat in the penalty shootout after the match ended 1-1 thanks to a goal-saving handball from striker Luis Suárez. Ghana forward Asamoah Gyan missed the resultant penalty, to the elation of an initially distraught Suárez after the Uruguayan was sent off.

Then came Morocco’s moment. After years of investment in their soccer and the infrastructure in the country, the Atlas Lions roared into the last four as they shattered the quarterfinal barrier for African countries.

What level can Africa reach in the 2026 edition, which is being cohosted by Mexico, the US and Canada between 11 June and 19 July?

Five decades ago, the Brazilian soccer legend Pelé declared: “An African nation will win the World Cup before the year 2000.” Of course, this prediction did not come to fruition and it is unlikely to be realised in 2026 either.

The benefits of expansion

As a direct benefit of the Fifa World Cup being bloated from 32 participants to 48 in 2026, Africa will double the number of representatives it has had in recent instalments of the tournament. There have been five teams since 1998. For this edition there will be 10.

Senegal, Morocco, Egypt, Ghana, Algeria, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will be representing the ­continent, feeding off the success Morocco achieved four years ago. This is despite Morocco not being everyone’s cup of tea because their complaint to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after the 2025 Afcon final led to Senegal being stripped of the title, despite originally winning 1-0.

In March 2026, CAF said the decision to strip the Lions of Teranga of their African title was motivated by the Senegalese staging a walk-off during the final of the Morocco-hosted edition of Africa’s premier soccer showpiece. They returned to the pitch and play continued. The Senegalese have since appealed the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Pending the outcome of this review, the Atlas Lions head into the World Cup as the boardroom African champions, although Senegal remain the legitimate Afcon holders in the eyes of many people.

Coincidentally, Morocco’s coach at the 2022 World Cup, Walid Regragui, resigned from his post a few weeks before CAF publicly announced that the Atlas Lions would be retrospectively crowned the kings of Africa.

Morocco and momentum

Despite losing their coach from the historic showing four years ago, the Morocco team believe they can have another memorable World Cup campaign. Regragui has been replaced by Mohamed Ouahbi and the players are backing their odds under the latter tactician, especially with stars such as Achraf Hakimi and Brahim Díaz.

“The quality of the players is still there,” goalkeeper Yassine Bounou said in an article on the Fifa website. “The right mindset will also be there because it’s a World Cup and every player dreams of playing in it. For some, this might be the last one. For others, it will be their first time.

“Let’s be honest: there are teams that are bigger favourites than us. We have been on this path of progress since 2022. So, let’s try to carry that on. After that, there’s no telling how far we might go,” said Bounou.

“We feel that we’re still respected, and that must give us confidence. There’s a sense of belief that we perhaps didn’t feel before as an African team.”

The Moroccans have been drawn in Group C alongside Brazil, Scotland and Haiti. They will back themselves to not only qualify for the round of 32, but to finish at the summit of the group.

Africa’s pride

The same is true for Senegal in Group I. They are alongside France, Iraq and Norway. The opening fixture against France will bring back memories of their successful debut World Cup in 2002, when the Lions of Teranga defeated the then reigning world champions 1-0 to set the tone for the rest of their tournament, which culminated in the quarterfinals.

Elsewhere, African countries such as the Mohamed Salah-led Egypt, as well as Ghana, Algeria, Tunisia and Ivory Coast, will be hoping they can also at least make the knockout rounds. The Tunisians face the toughest battle in this quest as they are grouped with the Netherlands, Sweden and Japan.

Although these countries will draw the most attention because of their star power and strong history at the World Cup, countries such as South Africa, the DRC and Cape Verde will be flying under the radar. No one will give these countries a chance, but this will ease the pressure on them.

The Blue Sharks of Cape Verde are swimming in completely uncharted waters as they make their World Cup debut. They are the only African team at the 2026 edition that have never reached the global stage until now. It will not be an easy debut for them against Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia in Group H. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.