Football: African 2026 World Cup qualifying facts and figures
Sports
By
AFP
| Oct 07, 2025
Son Heung-Min #7 of Los Angeles FC is tackled by Stian Gregersen #5 of Atlanta United during the first half at BMO Stadium on October 5, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. [AFP]
Facts and figures from 2026 World Cup qualifying in Africa ahead of final two matchdays, starting on Wednesday:
There have been 80 goals scored in Group F, followed by Groups A and I with 64 each. The leading individual scorer is Los Angeles-based Gabon striker Denis Bouanga with eight goals.
Morocco are the leading scorers among the 53 participating nations with 21 goals. Ayoub el Kaabi from Greek giants Olympiacos has claimed four and Netherlands-based Ismael Saibari three.
Reigning African champions the Ivory Coast and Tunisia boast the best defences, with both nations keeping clean sheets in all eight qualifiers.
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Shock 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco have the only perfect record, winning all seven matches in a group reduced to five teams by the withdrawal of Eritrea. Tunisia have won seven of eight matches.
Nigeria have drawn five matches -- the most of any contenders -- while Angola, Guinea-Bissau, South Sudan, Togo and Zimbabwe have each shared the points four times.
Of the nine group top seeds, Morocco and Tunisia have already qualified, and Egypt, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Algeria lead other mini-leagues. Fourth-placed Mali are the worst off.
Island nations the Seychelles and Sao Tome e Principe are seeking their first points after eight consecutive losses each. The Seychellois have scored just two goals and conceded 39.
Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Djibouti, Eswatini, Somalia, South Sudan and Zimbabwe have secured points from draws, but none of them have won a qualifier.
The majority of qualifying matches have been competitive with 48 drawn and 71 decided by one-goal margins. An exception was the Ivory Coast hammering the Seychelles 9-0 in Abidjan.
Groups G and I have delivered 13 home victories each, but only six matches in Group E were won by the hosts. Away teams have been most successful in Group H with 10 wins.
The most common scoreline from the 208 qualifiers so far is 1-0 with 43 matches producing that outcome. There have been 2-0 results 34 times and 23 matches finished in 1-1 draws.