It was a record-setting 9-0 win for Ivory Coast over Seychelles in Abidjan on Friday in a World Cup qualifier in Africa.
Sebastien Haller, a forward for Borussia Dortmund, set off the goal rush in the 20th minute, and Karim Konate, a forward for Salzburg, finished it off five minutes into extra time.
In the first Group F match, Konate and Hamed Traore each scored two goals, while Haller, Ibrahim Sangare, Simon Adingra, Seko Fofana, and Jean-Philippe Krasso each scored one.
The Seychelles are a holiday spot off the east coast of Africa. They are ranked 195th in the FIFA rankings, 121 spots behind the Ivory Coast.
The first round of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in Africa was seeded so that the nine best teams played the nine worst teams at home. This almost guaranteed that some games would be easy for one team.
Egypt beat Djibouti by six goals on Thursday in Group A. Mohamed Salah, a star player for Liverpool, scored four of those goals.
Before the flood of goals in Abidjan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, and Algeria all had eight-goal wins.
While the Ivorians scored easily, Ghana had to wait 96 minutes for Inaki Williams to score the only goal that gave them a 1-0 win over Madagascar in Group I.
The Bilbao forward may have saved Ghana coach Chris Hughton’s job by heading a Gideon Mensah cross past Melvin Adrien in Kumasi. Hughton was under fire at the time.
Unique goal
Williams, who was born in Spain, said, “This goal is very important to me because my family was in the stadium when I scored it.”
Hughton, who used to lead in the Premier League, has been under a lot of heat since America and Mexico lost friendly games last month.
Cameroon has been to eight World Cups, which is the most by an African team. They had a tough home game against Mauritius in Group D, but scored two late goals to secure a 3-0 win.
Bryan Mbeumo, a forward for Brentford, broke the tie in extra time in the first half in Douala. Georges N’Koudou and Frank Magri scored as the guests got tired.
Tunisia, which has made it to the World Cup six times, also won easily at home, beating Sao Tome and Principe 4-0 in Rades in Group H.
Zambia kept up their good form under former Chelsea boss Avram Grant by beating Congo Brazzaville 4–2 in Ndola thanks to goals from Fashion Sakala and Patson Daka in the second half.
It was a defeat for Burkina Faso when they were tied 1-1 by Guinea-Bissau. They were hoping to push Egypt for first place and direct entry to the 2026 finals from Group A.
African winners Senegal and South Africa are two of the teams playing on Saturday, the last day of the 26-game first round. Sunday is the start of matchday two.