Egypt officially became the third African nation to secure its place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a commanding 3-0 victory over Djibouti on Wednesday. Joining already qualified Morocco and Tunisia, the Pharaohs wrapped up an unblemished campaign, taking an unassailable 23 points to seal top spot in Group A. Ibrahim Adel opened the scoring, and captain Mohamed Salah added a decisive brace as they comfortably saw off the small Red Sea nation in the fixture played in Casablanca.
The World Cup campaign, which will be hosted in North America, saw dramatic progress for two other nations: Cape Verde Islands and Ghana, who are now within touching distance of joining the qualified trio.
High Stakes for Cape Verde
Tiny Cape Verde must now wait until Monday for a last chance to secure a first-ever World Cup spot after an exhilarating 3-3 draw away in Libya in a Group D encounter. They fought back from a 3-1 deficit early in the second half to level the score with eight minutes remaining. Drama ensued late on when they were wrongly denied a potential stoppage-time winner by an offside call, missing a chance to seal their fate immediately. The island nation moved to 20 points, two ahead of second-placed Cameroon, who beat Mauritius 2-0. If they defeat Eswatini at home on Monday, Cape Verde will become the second smallest nation to qualify for a World Cup.
Ghana Maintains Advantage
Ghana, quarter-finalists in 2010, maintained their three-point lead in Group I after delivering a powerful 5-0 defeat to the Central African Republic in Meknes. Mohammed Salisu headed in the opener in the 20th minute, followed by second-half goals from Thomas Partey, Alexander Djiku, Jordan Ayew, and Kamaldeen Sulemana. Their victory came as Madagascar also secured a 2-1 win over the Comoros Islands. Ghana now needs only a single point from their final group fixture, which is at home against Comoros in Accra on Sunday, to confirm their passage to the finals.
In other Wednesday fixtures, Mali secured a 2-0 win over Chad, and Ethiopia were 1-0 winners over Guinea Bissau. Meanwhile, Angola managed to avoid an embarrassing loss, fighting back to draw 2-2 against Eswatini in the debut match for their new coach Patrice Beaumelle.
