CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe has described the performances of African teams at the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a major milestone, saying the continent continues to prove its growing strength in global football.
Speaking in a statement released on Wednesday, Motsepe congratulated the 10 African countries that competed at the expanded tournament, noting that nine of them advanced to the Round of 32, the best qualification record Africa has ever achieved at a FIFA World Cup.
The participating nations were Algeria, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.
According to him, Africa’s impressive showing was reflected in the numbers, with the continent making up just over one fifth of the teams at the tournament but producing more than a quarter of the countries that reached the knockout phase.
He particularly praised Morocco for reaching the quarter finals for the second consecutive World Cup and acknowledged Egypt’s progress to the Round of 16. He also commended the performances of Cabo Verde, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, DR Congo, South Africa, Ghana and Tunisia.
“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,” Motsepe said.
“The nine African National Teams that qualified from the Group Stage to the Round of 32 made history at the FIFA World Cup 2026, as this is 90 per cent of the African National Teams that participated, and is the highest percentage to qualify to date.”
Motsepe said the tournament had also provided valuable lessons, adding that the continent’s coaches and players would use the experience to raise the standard of African football ahead of future competitions.
“We have also identified specific areas where there is room for improvement and I am confident that the coaches, technical teams and players will implement the necessary improvements. This will ensure even greater successes for African National Teams in future FIFA World Cups,” he said.
To sustain the progress, the CAF president disclosed that the football body would organise a conference bringing together coaches, technical officials, former internationals and other stakeholders to evaluate Africa’s World Cup campaign and prepare for the 2030 edition.
“CAF will be hosting a conference and will invite the National Team coaches, technical teams, former African National Team players and other football experts and stakeholders to evaluate and assess the performances of the African National Teams at the FIFA World Cup 2026, to make recommendations that will ensure that the African National Teams will be even more successful at the FIFA World Cup 2030,” he said.
He reaffirmed CAF’s commitment to investing in player development, coaching, domestic leagues and national teams across all 54 member associations.
“We will continue to train and invest in our boys and girls football players, amateur football, professional football leagues and our National Teams in each of the 54 African countries to make African football globally competitive and amongst the best in the world,” he said.
Motsepe also called for improved football infrastructure across the continent, stressing that every member nation should have stadiums capable of hosting CAF and FIFA sanctioned matches.
“Every National Team and Football Club must play its matches in their country and in front of their local supporters and fans. It is essential that in each of our 54 Member Association Countries there is a stadium that is at the requisite CAF and FIFA level,” he said.
Expressing confidence in Africa’s future, Motsepe said the continent is on the right path to producing a FIFA World Cup winner.
“CAF is making enormous progress in developing and growing men and women football in Africa and making it amongst the best in the world. We remain confident that an African nation will be Champions of the FIFA World Cup,” he added.
