By Patrick Omorodion
Africa scored ninety percent in the first round of the ongoing 2026 World Cup with nine out of its 10 representatives qualifying for the round of 32.
Out of the nine qualifiers, five of them namely South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Cote d’Ivoire and debutants Cape Verde picked one of the two automatic tickets from their groups.
Four others, Senegal, Ghana, DR Congo and Algeria qualified as one of the third placed teams with Senegal being the only side which sailed through with three points after losing their first two matches.
Ironically Cape Verde is the only automatic qualifier who picked a ticket with only three points having drawn all three group matches.
The only African flag bearer who failed to make it to the round of 32 is Tunisia who placed last in their group after losing all three group matches, scoring only two goals and conceding a whopping 12.
Other teams that placed last in their group without scoring a single point like Tunisia are Haiti, Iraq, Panama and two debutants Jordan and Uzbekistan.
