As more teams show skill and talent worthy to compete in the World Cup, the tournament is growing. The 2026 World Cup will be bigger and better with 16 more teams added. The desire to increase the number of participants from the usual 32-team format was announced in October 2016. As if the 48 teams aren’t enough: there will also be three hosts (Canada, Mexico, and the United States) and a total of 104 games.
Having the games happening in three different countries is also something new and is definitely something to look forward to.
The first FIFA World Cup was held in 1930 and since then only a handful of African teams have had the privilege to participate in the tournament. Here are some of the popular names:
- Egypt
- Morocco
- Tunisia
- Algeria
- Cameroon
- Nigeria
- Senegal
- South Africa
- Ghana
- Côte d'Ivoire
Something we also noted is that only three African teams have made it into the quarter-finals of the tournament namely: Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002, and Ghana in 2010. Only one country which is Morocco managed to reach the semi-finals in Qatar in the 2022 FIFA World Cup
What’s the Bookmakers' View?
Betting sites and bookmakers have played a major role in offering bettors some of the best odds for teams playing in the World Cup. African bookmakers aren’t lagging behind as we see some of the best online casinos in South Africa offering great odds for bettors. Odds also tend to change as the tournament progresses.
Odds are commonly used to predict the outcome of a sports match or the possibility of a certain event happening. They simply represent the probability of a team winning or the probability of something happening. All odds are drawn taking into account factors such as previous performances, the quality of players, and the current form.
Most bookmakers aren’t backing any African countries yet as they have more favourable odds on the favourites such as England, France and Brazil. Bookmakers have priced up England specials such as top England scorer, England’s group betting and players make the England squad odds. As the 2026 World Cup gets closer the bookmakers will add more specials and odds for bettors to select from.
A common explanation for the failure of African teams and not having favourable odds is that most leading African and Caribbean talent is poached with money by European countries. One example is what happened in the 1998 World Cup won by France which had players such as Marcel Desailly, Lillian Thuram and Patrick Vieira all not French-born.
African Teams That Will Be Playing in the 2026 World Cup
There are likely to be 9 or 10 African qualifiers for the newly increased 48-team format for the 2026 World Cup. CAF (Confederation of African Football) is lobbying for 10 spots. The African football boss Patrice Motsepe also believes a team from Africa stands a great chance of reaching the 2026 World Cup Final. He further explains that the main objective of CAF is to ensure an African nation wins the World Cup. He also mentions that the goal is well within reach.
Countries such as Morocco in the past have reached the semi-finals and that brings hope and shows that there is hope for an African country to take the cup. Patrice Motsepe also mentioned that there are 10 African countries that have the strength to compete in the World Cup. He mentioned the likes of Morocco, Tunisia, Cameroon and Senegal.
FIFA has confirmed that 9 places are guaranteed for African teams which is an increase from 5 spots in the past. There’s also a possibility of an additional 10th spot. The list of African teams hasn’t been released yet but we are counting on some of the favourites making the list. Africa will be the biggest beneficiary of the new 48-team format as they will be receiving the most slots.
What Do We Think?
The famous Pele had predicted that an African country would win the World Cup by the year 2000. Although we’re more than 20 years ahead of the year 2000 we strongly agree with Pele considering Morocco's performance in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Senegal is another team that proceeded into the knockout stages in 2022. The possibility of an African nation taking the World Cup in 2026 shouldn’t be overlooked. These successes are definitely something that changed the world’s perception of African Football. The only thing they have to do is maintain the momentum.
Some say the possibility of Africa taking the World Cup is still just a dream as it will never happen. They cite the likes of South Africa and Nigeria as some teams that are disappointing when it comes to performance for the African continent. They also cite that Pele’s prediction was based on thoughts that African teams could emulate the strength displayed by Brazil which has strong local leagues.