On paper, the first two rounds of games in the African zone qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup looked very interesting, and they did not let us down.
The 53 African countries that were hoping to get one of the nine guaranteed spots at football’s most prestigious event began their quest from November 15th to November 21st.
In preparation for the third and fourth days of the World Cup qualifiers in June 2024, FIFA looks back at the first games and picks out four stories that came out of a busy week.
Ivory Coast raised the bar.
The Ivory Coast beat the Seychelles 9-0 in Group F, which is the largest margin of victory in an African World Cup playoff. Sebastien Haller scored the first goal, which set off a string of goals by Ibrahim Sangare, Simon Adringa, Karim Konate (2), Seko Fofana, Hamed Junior Traore (2), and Jean-Philippe Krasso.
On the day after the game, Les Elephants boss Jean-Louis Gasset said, “I told my players to respect our opponents and show their clinical side.”
Congo DR held the record before Djibouti. They beat Djibouti 9-1 at the Stade des Martyrs in the qualifiers for Korea/Japan 2002. Even though it was a one-sided game, it is still the CAF qualification match with the most goals.
Slimani moves up the list
On the first day of games, Algeria’s Islam Slimani tied the record for most goals scored (18) in the African qualifiers. He did this by scoring the same number of goals as Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast, Samuel Eto’o of Cameroon, and Moumouni Dagano of Burkina Faso.
What did the experienced forward in the mixed zone say when he heard the news? “Is that right?” “That’s great!”
Comoros claim first-ever wins
Comoros beat Central African Republic 4–2 in their first group game to get three points for the first time ever in a World Cup qualifier.
Central African Republic lost to Comoros, but forward Myziane Maolida helped his team win at the Stade de Moroni in Comoros on November 17, 2023. Picture: X
The islanders had lost six games and tied four others before Friday. “I’m proud to speak for the people of Comoros.” Coach Stefano Cusin, who is from Italy, told Africa Top Sports, “If we could make them smile this afternoon, that’s important.”
After four days, Comoros built on their first win by surprising everyone by beating Ghana 1-0.
Nigeria falls
Nigeria’s star scorer Victor Osimhen was hurt for the first two games, so they didn’t lose, but they also didn’t win either.
Two poor 1-1 draws for Jose Peseiro’s team: at home against Lesotho and away to Zimbabwe, both times coming from behind.
The fact that the Super Eagles have now gone 46 games without losing a World Cup qualifier will help them comfort themselves.