Ten of us went. That is where this has to begin, because it had never happened before. Not five, the number we had grown used to reciting. Ten. South Africa, Morocco, Côte d'Ivoire, Tunisia, Egypt, Cabo Verde, Senegal, Algeria, DR Congo and Ghana — a full tenth of the biggest World Cup ever staged, all of it carrying African colours onto the pitches of the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The tournament is thinning out now. As I write, the quarter-finals are here and only one of those ten is still breathing: Morocco, who face France on Thursday. So before the last of it slips away, let me do what we do here — count it. Not the noise, the numbers. This is Africa's World Cup, in figures that can be checked.
Old hands and first-timers
For some of these nations the plane ride was routine. Morocco arrived for a seventh finals, still glowing from the semi-final run of 2022, and Tunisia matched them on seven. For others it was something else entirely. Cabo Verde — a scatter of ten islands with fewer people than Nairobi has in a couple of neighbourhoods — walked out at a World Cup for the very first time. And DR Congo came back after fifty-two years away; the last time that shirt was at a World Cup, in 1974, the country was called Zaire.
| Nation | Finals | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Cabo Verde | 1st | Debut. The islands' first World Cup. |
| DR Congo | 2nd | First since 1974, when they played as Zaire. |
| South Africa | 4th | First appearance since 2010. |
| Egypt | 4th | The oldest African name at the finals (first went in 1934). |
| Senegal | 4th | Third in a row after 2018 and 2022. |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 4th | Back after missing 2018 and 2022. |
| Algeria | 5th | First appearance since 2014. |
| Ghana | 5th | Fifth trip for the Black Stars. |
| Morocco | 7th | Semi-finalists in 2022; joint-most-capped here, level with Tunisia. |
| Tunisia | 7th | Seven finals too — level with Morocco as the most-capped side here. |
The opening whistle carried more than football
It was South Africa who kicked the whole thing off, drawn against hosts Mexico in the opening match at the Azteca. They lost it 2–0, and the football was the smaller story. Here were two nations who both live at the sharp end of the world's argument about migration and belonging — Mexico on the border everyone shouts about, South Africa carrying its own hard, unhealed history of how it has treated fellow Africans who crossed into it looking for a life. Two flags that know that argument in their bones, meeting under the lights to start the party. I don't think that was lost on anyone watching from this continent.
The group stage, counted
Across the three group matchdays our ten teams played thirty games between them. And the ledger came out in almost unbelievable balance: ten won, ten drawn, ten lost. A perfect three-way split. You could not have arranged it if you tried.
In those thirty games African teams scored 40 and conceded 43 — a shade under a goal and a half at each end, and closer than the reputation usually allows. There were ten draws, nine clean sheets kept, and on seven occasions the strikers came home with nothing. The biggest afternoon belonged to Senegal, who took Iraq apart 5–0. The worst belonged to Tunisia, beaten 5–1 by Sweden and then 4–0 by Japan on the way to losing all three and heading home first, without a point.
Look down that column and you see the shape of it. Morocco, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt and Senegal all finished in the black. Three teams — Morocco, Egypt and Cabo Verde — got through the group without losing a single match. And then there is Tunisia's −10, sitting on its own at the bottom like a warning. The gap between the best of us and the worst of us was wide this year.
Cabo Verde, and a word you don't use lightly
I have to stop on Cabo Verde, because what they did belongs in its own paragraph. On debut — their first World Cup ever — the islanders drew all three group games and did not lose one of them. They held Spain, one of the favourites for the whole thing, to 0–0. They came from behind to draw 2–2 with Uruguay. They finished above Uruguay in the table. And when the Round of 32 paired them with Argentina, they refused to go quietly — they took the game all the way into extra time before losing 3–2. A nation of half a million people, pushing Argentina to the last breath. Remember the name.
Nine of ten
Here is the figure I keep coming back to. Of the ten African teams that started, nine reached the knockout rounds. Ninety per cent. Only Tunisia fell at the group stage. Five of ours went through as runners-up — South Africa, Morocco, Côte d'Ivoire, Cabo Verde and Egypt — and four more squeezed in among the best third-placed sides: Algeria, DR Congo, Ghana and Senegal.
Put that against the size of the field and it reads even better. Africa was 20.8% of the 48 teams that started, but 28.1% of the 32 that made the knockouts. We punched above our slice. The trouble came at the next hurdle — of those nine, only two survived the Round of 32.
Where the victory kept escaping us
This is the part that still stings, and I want to be honest about it. So many of these games followed the same cruel shape: the fight was there, the belief was there, and then the game turned right at the end. Senegal ran Belgium into extra time in the Round of 32 and lost 3–2. Cabo Verde did the same to Argentina and lost 3–2. Egypt went one round further, stood toe-to-toe with Argentina in the Round of 16, scored twice — and still lost 3–2. Three of our best nights ended on that exact scoreline. Two goals, and the plane home.
The Egypt game is the one people are still arguing about. Plenty felt the officiating didn't fall our way, that the VAR calls at the big moments went with the bigger name, and that Egypt were made to climb a hill the other side never had to. I won't pretend to settle that here. But the feeling that the giants get the benefit of the doubt when it matters most — that feeling was real, and it was loud, and it deserves saying out loud rather than swallowing.
One flag still flying
And then there is Morocco. They drew Brazil in the group and did not flinch. They beat the Netherlands on penalties in the Round of 32 after holding them level. Then, in the Round of 16, they did not leave it to chance at all — they beat Canada 3–0. Through five matches they have not lost inside ninety minutes. Now they meet France in the quarter-final, the same France that knocked Senegal's campaign sideways in the group. One team left to carry all of it.
So that is the count. Ten went, the most we have ever sent. Nine reached the knockouts. Forty goals scored, forty-three conceded, ten wins and ten draws and ten defeats in the groups, one debutant who refused to be a tourist, and three heartbreaks that all read 3–2. Whatever happens on Thursday, this was the widest African footprint the World Cup has ever carried. Ten flags went. One is still flying. Come on, Morocco — finish it for all of us.
Figures compiled from the confirmed group-stage results and the confirmed Round-of-32, Round-of-16 and quarter-final fixtures. “Games played” counts the 41 matches involving an African side through the Round of 16; Morocco's quarter-final is still to come. Appearance counts are historical World Cup records.