2026 World Cup: the full review of the ten African nations after matchday one

After the first matchday of the 2026 World Cup, Africa's ten representatives have delivered a mixed bag. From stunning upsets against football giants to crucial wins and heavy defeats, the continent experienced an opening round packed with emotion.

The first round of the group stage has wrapped up for Africa’s ten hopefuls, yielding a varied record with two victories, four draws, and four defeats. Here’s the complete breakdown of results and goalscorers.

African victories

• Ghana 1 – 0 Panama
  Scorer: Caleb Yirenkyi (90'+5).
• Ivory Coast 1 – 0 Ecuador
  Scorer: Amad Diallo (late in the match).

Draws

• Brazil 1 – 1 Morocco
  Morocco scorer: Ismael Saibari (21').
  Brazil scorer: Vinicius Júnior (32').
• Belgium 1 – 1 Egypt
  Egypt scorer: Emam Ashour (19').
  Belgium scorer: Mohamed Hany (66', own goal).
• Portugal 1 – 1 DR Congo
  DR Congo scorer: Yoane Wissa (45'+5).
  Portugal scorer: João Neves (6').
• Spain 0 – 0 Cape Verde
  No goals scored.

Read also: 2026 World Cup - Algeria: after mistakes against Messi, Zidane reportedly offered his apologies

African defeats

• Mexico 2 – 0 South Africa
  Mexico scorers: Julián Quiñones (9'), Raúl Jiménez (67').
• France 3 – 1 Senegal
  Senegal scorer: Ibrahim Mbaye (90'+5).
  France scorers: Kylian Mbappé (66', 90'+6), Bradley Barcola (82').
• Argentina 3 – 0 Algeria
  Argentina scorers: Lionel Messi (hat-trick).
• Sweden 5 – 1 Tunisia
  Tunisia scorer: Omar Rekik (43').
  Sweden scorers: Yasin Ayari (7', 90'+6), Alexander Isak (30'), Viktor Gyökeres (59') and Mattias Svanberg (84').

Despite a few setbacks, several African teams delivered impressive performances on opening day—most notably Morocco against Brazil, DR Congo holding Portugal, and Cape Verde frustrating Spain. With two games still to play, the race for qualification remains wide open for all the continent’s representatives.

Mahdi Zakaria LAZRI |

Editor

Football web writer creating digital sports content with a focus on news, analysis and stories that reflect passion, accuracy and objectivity.

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