The FIFA World Cup has come to an end for the African national teams. Overall, the campaigns were good, particularly in the group stage, reaching the historic milestone of 9 teams qualifying for the knockout phase, with only Tunisia missing out. With the competition over, the results leave a clear picture of the continent’s teams, with many surprises and few disappointments. Many of the teams, especially Egypt, Cape Verde, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, went further than had been predicted before the competition by the odds at platforms like the official 1xBet bookmaker, showing the success of African football.

Cape Verde

A World Cup debutant with only 560,000 inhabitants, Cape Verde was one of the great sensations of the competition. In a complicated group, everyone realistically expected the team to lose all 3 games and celebrate the simple fact of competing in the tournament for the first time. However, in the very first match Cape Verde shocked the football world by holding Spain to a 0-0, in a game that immediately put goalkeeper Vozinha, the standout player of the match, at the top of the main talking points of the World Cup. The goalkeeper went from 50,000 to more than 29 million followers on a social network.

While many expected the first match to be just a stroke of luck, Cape Verde kept on surprising. In the second round, they drew 2-2 with Uruguay, and in the third maintained a 0-0 against Saudi Arabia. With 3 draws, the team qualified in second place in the group and advanced to the round of 16 to face the reigning champions, Argentina. Again, nobody expected anything from the team and again they surprised. After a 1-1 draw in regular time, the team was beaten 3-2 only at the end of extra time. Overall, the team faced 3 world champions and did not lose to any of them in regular time. Now, all the players are national heroes.

Algeria

Algeria arrived at the World Cup as one of the major African teams with several emerging players who can make their mark on the world stage soon. After an expected defeat against Argentina and an expected win against Jordan, the team reached the final round and played one of the most controversial matches of the World Cup, as a draw qualified Algeria and their opponents Austria. After passing the ball around for almost 5 minutes without much intent, the team turned the game around to 3-2 in stoppage time, but conceded the equaliser in the last play of the game and qualified with 4 points as one of the best third-placed teams.

In the first knockout round, the Algerians lost 2-0 to Switzerland in a somewhat apathetic performance. In the overall standings, the team finished in 30th place.

South Africa

South Africa were the big underdogs in Group A, alongside Mexico, South Korea, and Czechia. After losing in the opening match to the host nation, the South Africans managed a draw against the Europeans and reached the final round with a chance of qualifying against South Korea. While most expected the Asians, who were clear favourites, to win, South Africa surprised everyone and won 1-0, qualifying in second place in the group.

In the round of 16, the team faced another host nation, Canada, and ended up being beaten 1-0, conceding in stoppage time. Even so, the team caught the world’s attention with their collective game based on players closing down quickly with the aim of pressing high after long balls. Their final classification was 26th place.

Morocco

As was already expected, Morocco was the African team that went furthest at the World Cup. After all, the team arrived at the competition ranked seventh in the FIFA rankings and with an even better squad than the one that reached the semi-finals in Qatar in 2022. From the very first match, the team showed their quality by drawing 1-1 with Brazil, having played much better and completely dominated the first half. They then beat Scotland 1-0 and Haiti 4-2, qualifying in second place in the group.

In the first knockout match, Morocco eliminated the Netherlands on penalties after drawing in stoppage time of regular time. Then, in the round of 16, the team completely dominated Canada and won 3-0, confirming their status as favourites. However, in the quarter-finals, the team succumbed to favourites France and were beaten 2-0. The team therefore finished the World Cup in seventh place. One of the standout players was striker Saibari, who ended up not playing the last match due to injury. In addition, midfielder Bouaddi gained worldwide recognition after an excellent tournament.

Ghana

Ghana relied on a very strong defence at this World Cup. The first match was hard-fought, with the team beating Panama 1-0 with a late goal. They then held England to a 0-0 draw, reaffirming their defensive strength. In the final match, with qualification already secured, the team lost 2-1 to Croatia and qualified as one of the best third-placed sides.

In the round of 16, the team was completely dominated by Colombia and ended up beaten 1-0, a scoreline that did not reflect the South Americans’ superiority. Star player Antoine Semenyo, a key figure at Manchester City, was one of the disappointments, failing to reproduce for the national team the performances he puts in for his club. Ghana therefore finished in 24th place at the World Cup.

Senegal

Those who downloaded tools like the 1xBet App Tanzania and looked at the odds would have seen that Senegal was considered one of the major African teams at the World Cup, but they suffered from many internal problems, including with the country’s football federation. In addition, the team was placed in an extremely difficult group, with France, Norway, and Iraq. After a good first half, the team ended up being beaten by France 3-1 in the opening match. In an excellent game, they also lost to Norway 3-2. In the final match, the team needed to win big to build a good goal difference and qualify as one of the best third-placed sides. This effectively happened, with the team beating Iraq 5-0.

In the round of 16, however, a major disappointment came. The team were widely superior to Belgium for practically the entire match, put in an excellent display, and opened up a 2-0 lead. Victory was in the Africans’ hands until the 86th minute, when they conceded the Europeans’ first goal. In the 89th minute, the Belgians equalised and, virtually in the last play of extra time, Senegal conceded a third goal, becoming the protagonists of one of the greatest comebacks of the World Cup. The team therefore finished the competition in 31st place.

Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast arrived at the World Cup with a squad full of emerging talent and had some great moments in the competition. In the opening match, they beat Ecuador 1-0 with a late goal and, in the second round, made life very difficult for Germany and were superior for much of the game, despite conceding a comeback in stoppage time and losing 2-1. In the final round, they confirmed their status as favourites and beat Curaçao 2-0, advancing in second place in the group.

In the round of 16, they faced Norway and also made it a difficult game, conceding the decisive goal only at the end of the match and losing 2-1. The standout player was winger Yan Diomandé, who gained worldwide recognition at the competition. Given the quality of the squad, the expectation is that this Ivorian group will be able to have at least two strong World Cups in 2030 and 2034. The team finished in 19th place.

Egypt

Egypt was the second-best African team at the World Cup, having reached the round of 16. In the group stage, they qualified in second place after drawing 1-1 with Belgium, beating New Zealand 3-1, and drawing 1-1 with Iran.

In the round of 16, the Egyptians struggled but eliminated Australia on penalties. In the round of 16, the challenge was enormous: beating Argentina. Surprising everyone, Egypt took a 2-0 lead and had victory in their hands for much of the game, also having a goal ruled out in a major refereeing controversy. However, Lionel Messi produced a decisive late spell and led the South American comeback with 3 goals in 15 minutes. Egypt therefore finished the World Cup in 15th place.

DR Congo

Alongside Cape Verde, the DR Congo was the great African surprise of the World Cup, as was already shown in the first round when they drew 1-1 with Portugal in a game where they had several chances to come away with the win. They were then beaten by Colombia as expected, 1-0. In the final round, the team beat Uzbekistan 3-1 and qualified in third place in the group.

In the round of 16, the team faced England, and like several other African teams, spent much of the game leading. However, star player Harry Kane decided the game with two late goals and eliminated DR Congo. Even so, the team finished with great credit for their outstanding matches. They ultimately finished in 23rd place.

Tunisia

Tunisia was the only African team that did not make it past the group stage and, more than that, was the second-worst team in the competition. In the opening match, the team was beaten by Sweden 5-1 and immediately afterwards dismissed their coach Sabri Lamouchi. Then came another heavy defeat, 4-0 against Japan. Finally, they lost 3-1 to the Netherlands and departed the competition in 47th place.

Individual highlights and each African team’s finishing position

In summary, this was the finishing position of each of the African teams at the World Cup:

Team	Position
Morocco	7th
Egypt	15th
Ivory Coast	19th
DR Congo	23rd
Ghana	24th
South Africa	26th
Algeria	30th
Senegal	31st
Cape Verde	32nd
Tunisia	47th

Among the players who stood out, these were the main ones:

• Vozinha – Cape Verde
• Yan Diomandé – Ivory Coast
• Pico Lopes – Cape Verde
• Yoane Wissa – DR Congo
• Ismaila Sarr – Senegal
• Ismael Saibari – Morocco
• Ibrahim Maza – Algeria
• Ayyoub Bouaddi – Morocco