2026 World Cup: North Africa Show the Rest How it is Done as Four Book Early Tickets

While the rest of Africa is vying for tickets to the 2026 World Cup, four countries have already secured their tickets and all of them are from North Africa.

In what is a great show of might from the Maghreb, four North African countries had already gone through by Thursday night, leaving the rest of the continent to fight it out this weekend and next week.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) qualifiers, which began in November 2023, will determine the continent's representatives by next month.

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With the tournament expanding to 48 teams, Africa is guaranteed nine automatic qualification spots. An additional 10th spot is up for grabs through the FIFA Play-Off Tournament, which will feature the four best runners-up from the CAF qualifying groups.

All the North African giants have therefore secured their tickets to next year’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The Atlas Lions, who made history with a semi-final run in 2022, became the first African team to qualify. They sealed their place at the top of Group E with a commanding 5-0 victory over a 10-man Niger side in Rabat in September.

The Carthage Eagles secured their seventh World Cup appearance after a hard-fought 1-0 win against Equatorial Guinea in also in September. This victory ensured they joined Morocco as one of the early qualifiers from the continent.

The Pharaohs booked their spot with a comfortable 3-0 triumph over Djibouti in Casablanca. The win cemented their position at the top of Group A with a game to spare. Egypt’s qualification was also sealed in September.

Returning to the World Cup for the first time since 2014, the Fennec Foxes clinched their qualification by finishing first in Group G. A decisive 3-0 win over Somalia on Thursday was enough to secure their return to football's biggest stage.