Ivory Coast and Senegal booked their place in the finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup following their respective victories over Kenya and Mauritania in the final fixtures of the African qualifiers on Tuesday, Afrosport reports.
Goals from Franck Kessie, Yan Diomande and Amad Diallo gave the Elephants a 3-0 win over the Kenyans to finish top of Group F, one point ahead of Gabon who defeated Burundi 2-0 while The Gambia finished third after a 7-0 win over bottom Seychelles.
Meanwhile, the Senegalese clinched top spot in Group B with a 4-0 win over the Mauritanians, Sadio Mane (brace), Iliman Ndiaye and Habib Diallo getting the goals.
The Teranga Lions finished two points ahead of DR Congo who edged Sudan 1-0 and settled for a place in the playoffs.
In Group E, Morocco finished with a 100% record after defeating the Republic of Congo 1-0 while in Group G, Algeria came from behind to defeat Uganda 2-1, denying the Cranes a place in the playoffs. Mozambique took third place after a 1-0 win over Somalia in Oran, with Guinea taking fourth place after a 2-2 draw with Botswana.
The nine teams that have automatically qualified for next year’s World Cup are: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Cape Verde, Ghana South Africa, Ivory Coast and Senegal.
Africa to the World. 🌍
9️⃣ of the very finest represent us at the 2026 #FIFAWorldCup, do they become 10? 👀 pic.twitter.com/27D2sn1TRP
— CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) October 14, 2025
Gabon, DR Congo, Cameroon and Nigeria progress to the playoffs next month with the winner from that round moving into the intercontinental playoffs next March to compete against five other teams from five continents to determine two spots at the Mundial.
