Cape Verde and Ghana turned from zeros to heroes among supporters by qualifying this week for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Both Cape Verde, a tiny archipelago of about 550,000 inhabitants with no football titles to boast of, and four-time continental champions Ghana failed to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
But the disappointment at missing the premier African football tournament has been forgotten as Cape Verdeans and Ghanaians celebrate that they will be part of the expanded 48-team World Cup next year.
AFP Sport looks at five talking points after Cape Verde and Ghana were joined by Algeria, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia as the nine automatic African qualifiers.
Cameroon, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria have qualified for a November mini-tournament and the winners advance to inter-continental play-offs in March with two World Cup places up for grabs.
Clinical Livramento
“We have earned respect in Africa, now we must earn respect in the world,” said Cape Verde coach Pedro ‘Bubista’ Brito after Group D winners Cape Verde became the smallest country by land mass to qualify.
The World Cup debutants recovered from a 4-1 hiding in Cameroon to go on a seven-match unbeaten streak, while the challenges of the Indomitable Lions and Angola fell below expectations.
Dailon Livramento, a 24-year-old striker on loan from Verona to Casa Pia, scored four crucial goals, including a brilliant solo match-winner when Cameroon came to the archipelago off the coast of Senegal.
Appollis stars
South Africa will return to the World Cup next June, 16 years after becoming the first host nation to be eliminated after the first round.
But it was a close call for Bafana Bafana (The Boys), who beat Rwanda in the final round to pip arch rivals Nigeria by one point for top spot after leading by five points in early September.
Orlando Pirates winger Oswin Appollis is an emerging South African star. He scored one goal and created the others in the 3-0 victory over the Rwandans.
