2026 qualifiers: Is a historic North African grand slam on the horizon?

North Africa is making headlines in the qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will wrap up early next week.

Tunisia, Morocco, and Egypt have already booked their tickets to the American showdown, while Algeria is on the verge of joining them. Indeed, a potential victory for the Fennecs on Thursday against Somalia would seal their qualification for the World Cup.

Also read: 2025 U20 World Cup: The full schedule for the first round

Never before have all four North African football powerhouses reached the World Cup finals at the same time.

This achievement is largely thanks to FIFA’s decision to expand the tournament to 48 teams, which has given Africa at least nine spots in the competition.

Morocco's XXL performance

Morocco delivered the best-ever World Cup campaign by a North African side, a feat achieved in the last edition held in Qatar.

The Atlas Lions finished fourth in the tournament, behind Argentina (world champions), France (runners-up), and Croatia.

Imed Ben Amara |

Editorar, fr

Imed Ben Amara - bilingual sports writer and web editor with experience in football content creation. Since 2021, he has contributed to Foot Africa, providing news coverage and analysis.