Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Dr Patrice Motsepe has praised Ghana and other African nations that featured at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, describing their performances as a significant milestone for football on the continent.
Africa was represented by a record 10 teams at the expanded tournament, with Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Cape Verde, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo making history by qualifying for the global showpiece.
The continent recorded its most successful World Cup campaign yet, with nine of the 10 African representatives advancing from the group stage to the Round of 32.
Tunisia was the only African team eliminated in the group stage, while Egypt and Morocco went further to reach the quarterfinals.
Speaking at a press conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday, Dr Motsepe highlighted the performances of several African teams, including Ghana’s Black Stars, who he said impressed at the tournament.
“Bafana Bafana played very well; Senegal played very well, Ghana, Algeria all performed well. The two nations that did well based on the results are Egypt and Morocco, and the results speak for themselves,” he said.
The CAF President described the achievement as a historic moment for African football, noting that the continent recorded its highest-ever percentage of teams reaching the knockout stage of the World Cup.
“Significant progress and successes were achieved by the African national teams at the FIFA World Cup 2026, and I am very proud of their performances,” Dr Motsepe stated.
He added that the nine African teams that reached the Round of 32 represented 90 per cent of the continent’s participants — the highest qualification rate recorded at the tournament.
According to him, Africa’s previous knockout-stage qualification rates stood at 40 per cent in 2022, zero per cent in 2018 and 40 per cent in 2014.
Dr Motsepe, however, noted that there are areas requiring improvement and expressed confidence that coaches, technical teams and players would address the challenges ahead of future competitions.
Ghana’s Black Stars, who reached the Round of 32 before being eliminated by Colombia, will now shift their focus to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
The four-time African champions have been drawn in Group C alongside Côte d’Ivoire, Somalia and The Gambia, with the qualification campaign scheduled to begin in September.
