In 2026, the World Cup will see another expansion of the final part – from now on it is designed for 48 participants at once. Thanks to this decision, the quota of African teams has also increased – now there will be at least nine of them, and subject to the passage of the intercontinental playoffs, a tenth may join them. This cannot but inspire fans from Africa: the previous format involved screening out too many worthy teams at the qualification stage.
At the moment, it is unknown which African teams will go to the tournament in North America, and who their opponents will be in the group stage. However, the bookmakers have already jumped in and rolled out the odds for the possible winners of the draw. Ultra-high quotes should not be scary, because not a single team has even guaranteed itself access to the tournament, and the chances of winning the trophy are assessed. If you want to place your own bet, go to Mostbet com sharni.
Morocco – 67
No African team has ever won the World Cup or even played in the final, and only the Moroccan team reached the semi-finals. Even more important is that this happened quite recently – at the previous World Cup, in December 2022. Moroccans have other historical achievements – they were the first among Africans to win a group at the World Forum and advanced to the playoff stage at the 1986 tournament. It is noteworthy that they took the continental trophy only once – in 1976, although they are included in the list of favorites before almost every African Cup of Nations.
While the rest of the African qualifying groups consist of six participants, the Moroccans have only four opponents, since Eritrea withdrew from the competition after the draw. The Eritreans hardly really laid claim to anything, but the other opponents do not seem too formidable – we need to get ahead of Zambia, Niger, Tanzania, and the Republic of the Congo. The Tanzanian trip has already been successfully completed, and the Zambians were beaten at the African Cup of Nations 2024, where, however, they were eliminated in the ⅛. In a word, you need to go through the selection confidently, and then look at the composition of the quartet at the World Cup.
Egypt – 151
The Pharaohs are considered the oldest African team – they played their first match in their history back in 1920. On their native continent, they have more titles than anyone else – in particular, they won the African Cup of Nations seven times and were on the podium six more times. but they went to the World Cup only three times, that is, half as often as the Moroccans.
As part of the selection, the Egyptians managed to get two victories – at home over Djibouti and away in Sierra Leone, but Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, and, especially, Burkina Faso will also try to impose competition. The latter has a traditionally strong team, so the Pharaohs will definitely not have it easy already at the qualifying stage, but, when laying claim to the world champion title, such tasks must be solved without stalling.
Ghana – 151
In the period from the 60s to the ’80s, the Black Stars became the best team of the continent four times, but at the same time, they reached the World Cup for the first time only in 2006. On the second attempt, they managed to repeat the achievement, which at that time was considered the peak of opportunity for a team from Africa – at the 2010 World Cup, Ghana reached the quarterfinals and had a good chance of reaching the semifinals.
By the way, Ghana’s tournament prospects still look unconvincing: it beat Madagascar minimally in the qualifying round, and completely lost to the Comoros team. If Chad and the Central African Republic cannot be considered giants, then the Mali team certainly dreams of going to the World Cup. At the same time, at the African Cup of Nations 2024, the Black Stars performed extremely unimpressively, failing to overcome the group tournament. Luckily, they still have time to shame their critics.
Ivory Coast – 151
The Elephants have won the African Cup of Nations three times, but from the point of view of the upcoming World Cup, the most recent title won in 2024, looks the most valuable. At the World Cup, the Ivorians performed much more modestly – all three attempts invariably ended in elimination at the group stage.
At home at the African Cup of Nations, Côte d’Ivoire took full advantage of the support of the stands, converting it into a title – and this despite the fact that they only miraculously avoided being eliminated from the quartet. But in the selection process, even before the continental tournament, a good foundation for the future was made – the Seychelles won 9:0, ensuring a good goal difference, plus they confidently defeated Gambia on the road. Burundi and Kenya do not look like those who will really interfere with reaching the World Cup, and Gabon, with all due respect, should be left behind by the Elephants.
Senegal – 151
At the same time, the Senegal team took silver for the first time at the African Cup of Nations – in the future, there will be another silver set of medals and the long-awaited championship at the 2021 tournament. As we can see, a neutral fan is greatly mistaken in considering the Senegalese to be the giants of African football.
In the qualifying tournament for the World Cup, the Senegalese confidently beat South Sudan, but they could not cope with Togo – only a draw. Competitors like the Mauritanians, who performed well at the last African Cup of Nations, the Sudanese (others – not those from the South), and the Congolese, who sensationally made it to the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations, can rub their hands from such results. Senegal itself did not perform very well at the recent continental tournament, stopping in ⅛, but it is all the more important to gather strength and take revenge.
Conclusion
Expanding quotas for the World Cup finals will increase the representation of African teams, but is unlikely to improve anyone’s chances of winning the title. Teams from Africa remain conditional underdogs – even the quarterfinals would be an excellent result for any of the teams, and no one is seriously laying claim to the trophy. However, there is a first time for everything, so you shouldn’t be surprised if the Africans shoot – including some of those who were not mentioned in this article.