Association football is the most popular sport in nearly every African country, and thirteen members of theConfederation of African Football (CAF) have competed at the sport's biggest event – theFIFA World Cup.

	1930 (13)	1934 (16)	1938 (15)	1950 (13)	1954 (16)	1958 (16)	1962 (16)	1966 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (24)	1986 (24)	1990 (24)	1994 (24)	1998 (32)	2002 (32)	2006 (32)	2010 (32)	2014 (32)	2018 (32)	2022 (32)	2026 (48)	2030 (48)	2034 (48)	Total
Teams	0		0	0	0	0	0	0																		51
Top 16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0[a]	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	0	2				11
Top 8	—	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1				4
Top 4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1				1
Top 2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0				0
1st																										0
2nd																										0
3rd																										0
4th																										1

Country	No.	Years	Best result
Cameroon	8	1982,1990,1994,1998,2002,2010,2014,2022	QF
Morocco	7	1970,1986,1994,1998,2018,2022,2026	4th
Tunisia	7	1978,1998,2002,2006,2018,2022,2026	R1
Nigeria	6	1994,1998,2002,2010,2014,2018	R2
Algeria	5	1982,1986,2010,2014,2026	R2
Ghana	5	2006,2010,2014,2022,2026	QF
Egypt	4	1934,1990,2018,2026	R1
South Africa	4	1998,2002,2010,2026	R1
Senegal	4	2002,2018,2022,2026	QF
Ivory Coast	4	2006,2010,2014,2026	R1
DR Congo[b]	1	1974	R1
Angola	1	2006	R1
Togo	1	2006	R1
Cape Verde	1	2026	TBD

• Bold indicates year(s) of best finish

Team	No.	Top-four finishes
Morocco	1	2022

The team ranking in each tournament is according to FIFA.^[1][2][3] The rankings, apart from the top four positions (top two in 1930), are not a result of direct competition between the teams; instead, teams eliminated in the same round are ranked by their full results in the tournament.

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

FIFA World Cup results of CAF members

Team	1930 (13)	1934 (16)	1938 (15)	1950 (13)	1954 (16)	1958 (16)	1962 (16)	1966 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (24)	1986 (24)	1990 (24)	1994 (24)	1998 (32)	2002 (32)	2006 (32)	2010 (32)	2014 (32)	2018 (32)	2022 (32)	2026 (48)	2030 (48)	2034 (48)	Total	Qual. Comp.
Algeria	—							×	•	•	•	R1 13th	R1 22nd	•	•	•	•	•	R1 28th	R2 14th	•	•	Q	TBD	TBD	5	15
Angola	—												•	•	•	•	•	R1 23rd	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD	1	11
Cameroon	—							×	•	•	•	R1 17th	•	QF 7th	R1 22nd	R1 25th	R1 20th	•	R1 31st	R1 32nd	•	R1 19th	•	TBD	TBD	8	15
Cape Verde	—																•	•	•	•	•	•	Q	TBD	TBD	1	7
DR Congo[b]	—								×	R1 16th	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD	TBD	1	12
Egypt[c]	••	R1 13th	×		•	×	×	×		•	•	•	•	R1 20th	•	•	•	•	•	•	R1 31st	•	Q	TBD	TBD	4	16
Ghana	—						•	×	•	•	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	R2 13th	QF 7th	R1 25th	•	R1 24th	Q	TBD	TBD	5	15
Ivory Coast	—									•	•		•	•	•	•	•	R1 19th	R1 17th	R1 21st	•	•	Q	TBD	TBD	4	13
Morocco	—						•	×	R1 14th	•	•	•	R2 11th	•	R1 23rd	R1 18th	•	•	•	•	R1 27th	4th	Q	Q	TBD	8	16
Nigeria	—						•	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	R2 9th	R2 12th	R1 27th	•	R1 27th	R2 16th	R1 21st	•	•	TBD	TBD	6	16
Senegal	—							×	•	•	•	•	•		•	•	QF 7th	•	•	•	R1 17th	R2 10th	Q	TBD	TBD	4	14
South Africa	—							×	—						•	R1 24th	R1 17th	•	R1 20th	•	•	•	Q	TBD	TBD	4	9
Togo	—									•	•	•	×	×	•	•	•	R1 30th	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD	1	12
Tunisia	—						•	×	•	•	R1 9th	•	•	•	•	R1 26th	R1 29th	R1 24th	•	•	R1 24th	R1 21st	Q	TBD	TBD	7	16

Legend

Team	Champions	Final	Semi-finals	Quarter-finals	Second Round
Morocco	0	0	1	1	2
Ghana	0	0	0	1	2
Senegal	0	0	0	1	2
Cameroon	0	0	0	1	1
Nigeria	0	0	0	0	3
Algeria	0	0	0	0	1

• Quarter-finals = knockout round of 8: 1934–1938, 1954–1970, and 1986–present; second group stage, top 8: 1974–1978
• Second Round = second group stage, top 12: 1982; knockout round of 16: 1986–present

As per statistical convention in football, matches decided inextra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided bypenalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. 3 points per win, 1 point per draw and 0 points per loss.

As of2022 FIFA World Cup

Team	Part	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Cameroon	8	26	5	8	13	22	47	-27	23
Morocco	6	23	5	7	11	20	27	–7	22
Nigeria	6	21	6	3	12	23	30	–7	21
Senegal	3	12	5	3	4	16	17	–1	18
Ghana	4	15	5	3	7	18	23	–5	18
Tunisia	6	18	3	5	10	14	26	–12	14
Algeria	4	13	3	3	7	13	19	–6	12
Ivory Coast	3	9	3	1	5	13	14	–1	10
South Africa	3	9	2	4	3	11	16	–5	10
Angola	1	3	0	2	1	1	2	–1	2
Egypt	3	7	0	2	5	5	12	–7	2
Togo	1	3	0	0	3	1	6	–5	0
DR Congo[b]	1	3	0	0	3	0	14	–14	0

Team	Appearances	Record streak	Active streak	Debut	Most recent	Best result
Cameroon	8	4	0	1982	2022	Quarter-finals (1990)
Morocco	7	3	3	1970	2026	Fourth place (2022)
Tunisia	7	3	3	1978	2026	First round / Group stage
Nigeria	6	3	0	1994	2018	Round of 16 (1994,1998,2014)
Algeria	5	2	1	1982	2026	Round of 16 (2014)
Ghana	5	3	2	2006	2026	Quarter-finals (2010)
Egypt	4	1	1	1934	2026	First round / Group stage
South Africa	4	2	1	1998	2026	Group stage
Ivory Coast	4	3	1	2006	2026	Group stage
Senegal	4	3	3	2002	2026	Quarter-finals (2002)
DR Congo[b]	1	1	0	1974	1974	First round
Angola	1	1	0	2006	2006	Group stage
Togo	1	1	0	2006	2006	Group stage
Cape Verde	1	1	1	2026	2026	TBD

Year	Debutants	Total
1934	Egypt	1
1970	Morocco	1
1974	Zaire[b]	1
1978	Tunisia	1
1982	Algeria  Cameroon	2
1994	Nigeria	1
1998	South Africa	1
2002	Senegal	1
2006	Angola  Ghana  Ivory Coast  Togo	4
2026	Cape Verde	1
Total		14

40 of the 54 active FIFA andCAF members have never qualified for the final tournament.^[4]

Country	Number of qualifying attempts	1930	1934	1938	1950	1954	1958	1962	1966	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	2022	2026	2030	2034
Zambia	15	—								•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Ethiopia	14	—					×	•	×	•	•	•	•	•		•		•	•	•×	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Guinea	14	—							×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•×	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Kenya	14	—									•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Sudan	14	—					•×	×	×	•	•	×	•	•	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Liberia	12	—							×				•	•	•	•×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Libya	12	—							×	•		•	•×	•	•×	×		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Malawi	12	—										•	•	•	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Sierra Leone	12	—									•	•	•	•		×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Tanzania	12	—									•	×	•	•		•×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Zimbabwe[d]	12	—								•			•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	×	•	•	TBD	TBD
									member ofAFC
Congo[e]	11	—							×		•	•				•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Madagascar	11	—									×		•	•		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Uganda	11	—										•	×	•	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Benin[f]	10	—									•			•		•		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Burkina Faso[g]	10	—										•			•	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Gabon	10	—							×		×				•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Gambia	10	—											•	•		×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Mozambique	10	—											•		×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Lesotho	9	—									•		•	×	×			•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Mauritius	9	—									•			•	×		•	•	•	•	×	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Namibia	9	—														•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Niger	9	—										•	•	×		•	×		•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Eswatini[h]	9	—														•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Botswana	8	—														•		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Burundi	8	—														•	•×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Guinea-Bissau	8	—															•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Mauritania	8	—								×	×	•	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	•	×	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Rwanda	8	—													×		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Somalia	8	—											•					•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Chad	7	—																•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Seychelles	7	—																•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Equatorial Guinea	7	—																•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Mali	7	—							×							×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
São Tomé and Príncipe	6	—														×		•	•	×	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Djibouti	6	—																•		•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Eritrea	5	—				Part of Ethiopia										—		•	•	×	•	•	•	×	TBD	TBD
Central African Republic	5	—										×	×					•	×	×	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
Comoros	5	—																		•	•	•	•	•	TBD	TBD
South Sudan	3	Part of Sudan																			—	•	•	•	TBD	TBD

Legend

This table shows for each world cup the number of countries at the World Cup, the number of entries (#E) from around the world (including any rejections and withdrawals), the number of African entries (#A), how many of those African entries withdrew (#A-) before/during qualification or were rejected byFIFA, the African representatives at the World Cup finals, the number of World Cup Qualifiers each African representative had to play to get to the World Cup (#WCQ), the furthest stage they reached, their results, and their coaches.

Year	Hosts	Size	#E	#A	#A-	African finalists	#WCQ	Stage	Results	Coach
1930	Uruguay	13	13	0	0	-
1934	Italy	16	32	1	0	Egypt	2	Round of 16	lost 2–4 Hungary	James McRea
1938	France	15	37	1	1[5]	-
1950	Brazil	13	34	0	0	-
1954	Switzerland	16	45	1	0	-
1958	Sweden	16	56	3	3[6]	-
1962	Chile	16	56	7	2[7]	-
1966	England	16	74	17	17[8]	Boycott
1970	Mexico	16	75	14	2[9]	Morocco	10	Group stage	lost 1–2 West Germany,lost 0–3 Peru,drew 1–1 Bulgaria	Blagoje Vidinić
1974	West Germany	16	99	24	2[10]	Zaire	10	First round	lost 0–2 Scotland,lost 0–9 Yugoslavia,lost 0–3 Brazil	Blagoje Vidinić
1978	Argentina	16	107	26	4[11]	Tunisia	10	First round	won 3–1 Mexico,lost 0–1 Poland,drew 0–0 West Germany	Abdelmajid Chetali
1982	Spain	24	109	29	4[12]	Algeria	8	First round	won 2–1 West Germany,lost 0–2 Austria,won 3–2 Chile	Mahieddine Khalef Rachid Mekhloufi
						Cameroon	8	First round	drew 0–0 Peru,drew 0–0 Poland,drew 1–1 Italy	Jean Vincent
1986	Mexico	24	121	29	3[13]	Algeria	6	Group stage	drew 1–1 Northern Ireland,lost 0–1 Brazil,lost 0–3 Spain	Rabah Saâdane
						Morocco	8	Round of 16	drew 0–0 Poland,drew 0–0 England,won 3–1 Portugal R16:lost 0–1 West Germany	José Faria
1990	Italy	24	116	26	5[14]	Cameroon	8	Quarter-finals	won 1–0 Argentina,won 2–1 Romania,lost 0–4 Soviet Union R16:won 2–1 Colombia QF:lost 2–3 (a.e.t.) England	Valeri Nepomniachi
						Egypt	8	Group stage	drew 1–1 Netherlands,drew 0–0 Republic of Ireland,lost 0–1 England	Mahmoud El-Gohary
1994	United States of America	24	147	40	12[15]	Cameroon	8	Group stage	drew 2–2 Sweden,lost 0–3 Brazil,lost 1–6 Russia	Henri Michel
						Morocco	10	Group stage	lost 0–1 Belgium,lost 1–2 Saudi Arabia,lost 1–2 Netherlands	Abdellah Blinda
						Nigeria	8	Round of 16	won 3–0 Bulgaria,lost 1–2 Argentina,won 2–0 Greece R16:lost 1–2 (a.e.t.) Italy	Clemens Westerhof
1998	France	32	174	38	3[16]	Cameroon	6	Group stage	drew 1–1 Austria,lost 0–3 Italy,drew 1–1 Chile	Claude Le Roy
						Morocco	6	Group stage	drew 2–2 Norway,lost 0–3 Brazil,won 3–0 Scotland	Henri Michel
						Nigeria	6	Round of 16	won 3–2 Spain,won 1–0 Bulgaria,lost 1–3 Paraguay R16:lost 1–4 Denmark	Bora Milutinovic
						South Africa	8	Group stage	lost 0–3 France,drew 1–1 Denmark,drew 2–2 Saudi Arabia	Philippe Troussier
						Tunisia	8	Group stage	lost 0–2 England,lost 0–1 Colombia,drew 1–1 Romania	Henryk Kasperczak
2002	South Korea and Japan	32	199	51	2[17]	Cameroon	10	Group stage	drew 1–1 Republic of Ireland,won 1–0 Saudi Arabia,lost 0–2 Germany	Winfried Schäfer
						Nigeria	10	Group stage	lost 0–1 Argentina,lost 1–2 Sweden,drew 0–0 England	Festus Onigbinde
						Senegal	10	Quarter-finals	won 1–0 France,drew 1–1 Denmark,drew 3–3 Uruguay R16:won 2–1 (a.s.d.e.t.) Sweden QF:lost 0–1 (a.s.d.e.t.) Turkey	Bruno Metsu
						South Africa	8	Group stage	drew 2–2 Paraguay,won 1–0 Slovenia,lost 2–3 Spain	Jomo Sono
						Tunisia	10	Group stage	lost 0–2 Russia,drew 1–1 Belgium,lost 0–2 Japan	Ammar Souayah
2006	Germany	32	197	51	1[18]	Angola	12	Group stage	lost 0–1 Portugal,drew 0–0 Mexico,drew 1–1 Iran	Luís Oliveira Gonçalves
						Ivory Coast	10	Group stage	lost 1–2 Argentina,lost 1–2 Netherlands,won 3–2 Serbia and Montenegro	Henri Michel
						Ghana	12	Round of 16	lost 0–2 Italy,won 2–0 Czech Republic,won 2–1 United States R16:lost 0–3 Brazil	Ratomir Dujković
						Togo	12	Group stage	lost 1–2 South Korea,lost 0–2  Switzerland,lost 0–2 France	Otto Pfister
						Tunisia	10	Group stage	drew 2–2 Saudi Arabia,lost 1–3 Spain,lost 0–1 Ukraine	Roger Lemerre
2010	South Africa	32	204	53	4[19]	Algeria	13	Group stage	lost 0–1 Slovenia,drew 0–0 England,lost 0–1 United States	Rabah Saâdane
						Cameroon	12	Group stage	lost 0–1 Japan,lost 1–2 Denmark,lost 1–2 Netherlands	Paul Le Guen
						Ivory Coast	12	Group stage	drew 0–0 Portugal,lost 1–3 Brazil,won 3–0 North Korea	Sven-Göran Eriksson
						Ghana	12	Quarter-finals	won 1–0 Serbia,drew 1–1 Australia,lost 0–1 Germany R16:won 2–1 (a.e.t.) United States QF:lost 1–1(2–4p) Uruguay	Milovan Rajevac
						Nigeria	12	Group stage	lost 0–1 Argentina,lost 1–2 Greece,drew 2–2 South Korea	Lars Lagerbäck
						South Africa	host	Group stage	drew 1–1 Mexico,lost 0–3 Uruguay,won 2–1 France	Carlos Alberto Parreira
2014	Brazil	32	203	53	1[20]
						Algeria	8	Round of 16	lost 1–2 Belgium,won 4–2 South Korea,drew 1–1 Russia R16:lost 1–2 (a.e.t.) Germany	Vahid Halilhodžić
						Cameroon	8	Group stage	lost 0–1 Mexico,lost 0–4 Croatia,lost 1–4 Brazil	Volker Finke
						Ivory Coast	8	Group stage	won 2–1 Japan,lost 1–2 Colombia,lost 1–2 Greece	Sabri Lamouchi
						Ghana	8	Group stage	lost 1–2 United States,drew 2–2 Germany,lost 1–2 Portugal	James Kwesi Appiah
						Nigeria	8	Round of 16	drew 0–0 Iran,won 1–0 Bosnia and Herzegovina,lost 2–3 Argentina R16:lost 0–2 France	Stephen Keshi
2018	Russia	32	210	54	1[21]
						Egypt	8	Group stage	lost 0–1 Uruguay,lost 1–3 Russia,lost 1–2 Saudi Arabia	Héctor Cúper
						Morocco	8	Group stage	lost 0–1 Iran,lost 0–1 Portugal,drew 2–2 Spain	Hervé Renard
						Nigeria	8	Group stage	lost 0–2 Croatia,won 2–0 Iceland,lost 1–2 Argentina	Gernot Rohr
						Senegal	8	Group stage	won 2–1 Poland,drew 2–2 Japan,lost 0–1 Colombia	Aliou Cissé
						Tunisia	8	Group stage	lost 1–2 England,lost 2–5 Belgium,won 2–1 Panama	Nabil Maâloul
2022	Qatar	32	206	54	0
						Cameroon	8	Group stage	lost 0–1  Switzerland,drew 3–3 Serbia,won 1–0 Brazil	Rigobert Song
						Ghana	8	Group stage	lost 2–3 Portugal,won 3–2 South Korea,lost 0–2 Uruguay	Otto Addo
						Morocco	8	Semi-finals (4th place)	drew 0–0 Croatia,won 2–0 Belgium,won 2–1 Canada R16:won 0–0(3–0p) Spain QF:won 1–0 Portugal SF:lost 0–2 France 3PP:lost 1–2 Croatia	Walid Regragui
						Senegal	8	Round of 16	lost 0–2 Netherlands,won 3–1 Qatar,won 2–1 Ecuador R16:lost 0–3 England	Aliou Cissé
						Tunisia	8	Group stage	drew 0–0 Denmark,lost 0–1 Australia,won 1–0 France	Jalel Kadri

The inaugural1930 FIFA World Cup was the only one without any qualification process. No African teams entered.

ThePharaohs of Egypt were the only African team to apply to feature at the1934 FIFA World Cup. As there were 32 countries competing for 16 places, FIFA organized the firstqualification round. Egypt was placed in a group withTurkey and Palestine,^[22] then aBritish mandate.Turkey withdrew, and Egypt beat Palestine 7–1 in Cairo and 4–1 in Jerusalem to qualify for the World Cup finals.The1934 FIFA World Cup finals was organized as a straight knock-out. Egypt lost 4–2 toHungary inNaples^[23] withAbdulrahman Fawzi scoring twice to become the first African to score at the World Cup finals. However, a third goal by Fawzi was ruled offside by the Italian referee despite the player having dribbled from the middle of the pitch, and the fourth Hungarian goal involved a scuffle where the Hungarian striker broke the Egyptian goalkeeper's nose with his elbow. The Italian newspapers heavily criticized their referee, but Egypt sailed home and only returned to the World Cup finals 56 years later.^[24]

Egypt was the only African country to apply to compete at the1938 FIFA World Cup, butwithdrew before playing any matches.

No African countries applied to compete at the1950 FIFA World Cup.

Egypt was the only African country to apply to compete at the1954 World Cup. They were placed in atwo-team group with Italy, but lost 1–2 inCairo and 1–5 inMilan, and thus did not qualify for the World Cup.

Egypt,Ethiopia, andSudan all applied to enter thequalification process for the1958 FIFA World Cup, but Ethiopia's entry was rejected by FIFA.

Egypt and Sudan competed in anAfrica/Asia zone with ten Asian countries for one spot at the World Cup. Egypt progressed to the next round afterCyprus withdrew, but then itself withdrew. Sudan defeatedSyria 2–1 on aggregate but eventually withdrew in protest at having to playIsrael. (Eventually, the spot originally reserved for Africa and Asia was taken byWales.^[25])

Seven African countries entered thequalification process for the1962 FIFA World Cup :Ghana,United Arab Republic (a joint football association byEgypt andSyria, who were politically united between 1958 and 1961),Ethiopia,Morocco,Nigeria,Sudan andTunisia. Ethiopia entered through theUEFA qualification process, where it waseliminated by Israel, while the rest entered through theCAF qualification process. Both Sudan andU.A.R. withdrew as FIFA would not allow them to rearrange matches to avoid the monsoon season, so the four teams formed two two-team groups. In the first group, Morocco and Tunisia both beat each other 2–1 at home, and then played a third match at a neutral location (Palermo,Italy) which ended in a 1–1 draw after extra time. Sincepenalty shootouts were not used by FIFA till the 1970s, Morocco advanced by drawing lots^[26] to eliminate Tunisia. Morocco then eliminatedGhana with a draw and a win to proceed to aUEFA/CAF playoff with Spain. They lost both legs of this playoff, meaning that no African nation made it to the World Cup finals for the fifth time in a row.

Seventeen African countries entered thequalification process for the1966 FIFA World Cup :Algeria,Cameroon,French Congo,Ethiopia,Gabon,Ghana,Guinea,Liberia,Libya,Mali,Morocco,Nigeria,Senegal,South Africa,Sudan, andTunisia.FIFA rejected the application of French Congo, and had already suspended South Africa forapartheid, resulting in their disqualification.

FIFA's allocation of only one place to three continents (Africa, Asia, Oceania) was subject to significant criticism, especially given the large increase in applications from newly independent African countries. After FIFA confirmed the allocation, the remaining fifteen African nations withdrew in protest.^[27]

Fourteen African countries entered thequalification process for the1970 World Cup :Algeria,Cameroon,Ethiopia,Ghana,Guinea,Libya,Morocco,Nigeria,Rhodesia,Senegal,Sudan,Tunisia,Zaire, andZambia.FIFA rejected the applications of Guinea and Zaire. TheAtlas Lions of Morocco played ten matches to qualify for the singleCAF spot at the World Cup, advancing along the way past Tunisia by virtue of a coin toss.^[26]

Rhodesia, having been expelled fromCAF for having awhite minority government, entered through theAsia/Oceania qualifying group, where they had to play againstAustralia in Portuguese-held Mozambique (there was a boycott against playing matches in Rhodesia). The first two matches were drawn, thanks in large part to the excellent Rhodesian goalkeeper Robin Jordan,^[28] and the desperate Australians hired aMozambicansangoma to 'curse' him. In the third match, Jordan was taken off injured after a collision with another player, Australia won 3–1, then refused to pay the sangoma, got 'cursed' by the irate man, and wereeliminated two weeks later byIsrael.^[29] Meanwhile, Rhodesia'sCAF expulsion was soon followed by aFIFA expulsion, withZimbabwe readmitted in 1980.

At the1970 World Cup,Morocco was placed inGroup 4 along withWest Germany,Peru, andBulgaria. They lost 1–2 to eventual semi-finalists West Germany, lost 0–3 to Peru, and drew 1–1 with Bulgaria. The two goalscorers wereHoumane Jarir (against West Germany) andMaouhoub Ghazouani (against Bulgaria), who were thus the second and third ever African goalscorers at the World Cup. Morocco finished bottom of the group, on goal difference, with one point – the first African point in the World Cup.

24 African countries entered thequalification process for the1974 FIFA World Cup, with theLeopards of Zaire eventually qualifying quite comfortably, scoring 18 goals and conceding 5 in the ten matches they played to qualify.^[30]

At the1974 FIFA World Cup,Zaire were placed inGroup 2 along withScotland,Yugoslavia (home of Zaire coach and 1970Morocco coachBlagoje Vidinić), andBrazil. In their first match against Scotland, they impressed with their fast attacking style, and lost just 0–2. Scottish centre-halfJim Holton said after the match "Let's face it, we underestimated them. For fifteen minutes I wondered what the hell was going on, where the devil had this lot come from, playing stuff like that!"^[31]

The next opponentsYugoslavia had noted holes in the Zairean defence, and fully exploited them to hammer Zaire 9–0 in a then record win for World Cup finals, with all but three of their outfield players getting on the scoresheet.^[32] Zaire strikerMulamba Ndaye, who was sent off for protesting that a goal by the Yugoslavians was offside, said after the match, "The management had made off with our match bonuses, and we'd threatened not to play the game. Frankly we'd lost our morale. We could easily have let in 20 goals."

After the defeat, the Zairean team were told by the country's dictatorMobutu Sese Seko – who had rewarded the players for qualifying with a house and a car each – not to come home if defending champions Brazil beat them 4–0 or worse.^[33] Zaire managed to keep Brazil to merely a 0–3 defeat with Zairean defenderMwepu Ilunga receiving a yellow card for interfering with a free kick.^[34] Zaire left the tournament without scoring a goal.

26 African countries entered thequalification process for 1 spot at the1978 FIFA World Cup. In comparison, 22 Asia/Oceania countries also competed for 1 spot, while 31 European countries competed for 8.5 spots.Les Aigles de Carthage (The Carthage Eagles) of Tunisia eventually qualified, along the way eliminating Morocco in the first ever penalty shootout in World Cup qualification history.^[27] This was a major change for Tunisia, who had been eliminated by Morocco quite literally by chance on three previous occasions^[26] in the 1960s.

Tunisia were placed inGroup 2 withWest Germany,Poland, andMexico. AfterZaire's fate in 1974, they were not expected to do well. They were 1–0 down to Mexico at half-time when their Tunisian coachAbdelmajid Chetali told them that they treated their opponents with too much respect and that they could still win the game if they tackled hard and imposed their belief and self-confidence.^[35] Buoyed by the pep talk, the North Africans scored three times in the second half to win 3–1 and become the first African team to win a match at the World Cup. They lost their next match to Poland 1–0, missing several chances, and held West Germany to a goalless draw. While this was not enough to progress to the next round, African football pride had been restored.

This was the first World Cup with 24 teams, and Africa's representation was doubled. So 29 African countries competed for 2 spots inWorld Cup qualification. In comparison, 21 Asian nations also competed for 2 spots, but 33 European nations competed for 13 spots. 1978 finalists Tunisia were eliminated in the first round by Nigeria on penalties. Four series of knockout rounds were played, with the final two spots going down to Nigeria vs Algeria, and Morocco vs Cameroon. BothLes Fennecs(theDesert Foxes) of Algeria andLes Lions Indomptables (The Indomitable Lions) of Cameroon won 2–0 away and 2–1 at home and qualified for theWorld Cup for the first time.

Cameroon were placed inGroup 1, where they surprised everyone by remaining undefeated. They drew 0–0 withPeru, 0–0 withPoland, and 1–1 withItaly.Grégoire Mbida scored Cameroon's first World Cup finals goal. Italy had also drawn its three matches, so also had a goal difference of 0, but had scored two goals to Cameroon's one, so Cameroon were eliminated. This was especially painful because in their opening match against Peru, Cameroon strikerRoger Milla had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside.

Algeria were placed inGroup 2 withWest Germany,Austria, andChile. The Africans produced a major upset in the first match, beating West Germany 2–1 with goals byRabah Madjer andLakhdar Belloumi. They lost their second match 0–2 to Austria, then produced another surprise by beating Chile 3–2. The day after the Algeria vs Chile match, West Germany and Austria playedthe final group match inGijón knowing that a 1–0 or 2–0 win for West Germany would result in both European teams qualifying at the expense of Algeria on goal difference. West Germany scored after ten minutes, and then both teams appeared to pass the ball aimlessly around for the remaining 80 minutes.

This performance was widely deplored by all observers. The Spanish crowd shouted, "Fuera, fuera!" ("Out, out!") while angry Algerian supporters waved banknotes at the players to suggest that the game wasfixed. Even the two sides' fans were disgusted, with an Austrian television commentator advising viewers to turn off their TV sets, a German television commentator refusing to commentate further, and a German fan burning hisnational flag in protest. Furious Algerian football officials lodged an official protest, but the two teams denied any collusion. As nothing could be proved and the two teams had technically broken no rules, FIFA allowed the result to stand. FIFA did change the rules – in future World Cups, the final two games in each group are played simultaneously.^[36] ThusAlgeria were eliminated from the1982 FIFA World Cup at the first hurdle despite two wins.

As with 1982, 29 African countries entered thequalification process for two spots at theWorld Cup. There were four series of knockout rounds, with fourMediterranean countries making the final round. Algeria beat neighboursTunisia 7–1 on aggregate and becomes the first African team to qualify consecutively for the second time to World Cup. Morocco beatLibya 3–1 on aggregate and also qualified for their second World Cup.

Algeria were placed inGroup D with Brazil, Spain, and Northern Ireland. They did not reach the heights of its previous finals appearance, drawing 1–1 with Northern Ireland, losing 0–1 to Brazil, and losing 0–3 to Spain.

Morocco shocked bothPoland andEngland with goalless draws, and then defeatedPortugal 3–1 to become the first African team to progress beyond the first round. In the second round, they faced aWest German side that had seven survivors from theDisgrace of Gijón match.^[37][38] GoalkeeperBadou Zaki kept Morocco in the game with a series of excellent saves, but was finally beaten in the 87th minute by Gijón substituteLothar Matthäus.West Germany won 1–0 and went on to reach their second successive final.

26 African countries entered thequalification process for 2 spots at the1990 FIFA World Cup. This was the first time African qualification moved from a mostly straight home-away knockout format to include group stages early on. Finally it came down to four teams playing in two playoffs for the final: Algeria vs Egypt and Tunisia vs Cameroon.Cameroon beat Tunisia 2–0 at home and 1–0 away, and qualified for their second World Cup. However, the playoff between the two North African sides was significantly more ill-tempered.

After a goalless draw inConstantine, Egypt beat Algeria 1–0 in Cairo to qualify for the World Cup. After the Cairo match, an Algerian player gouged out an Egyptian team doctor's eye with a broken bottle. The player blamed,Lakhdar Belloumi (who scored the winning goal in Algeria's 2–1 defeat of West Germany in 1982^[39]), was not allowed to travel outside Algeria owing to anInterpol international arrest warrant for twenty years until the (financially compensated) Egyptian doctor dropped the charges in 2009.^[40] Belloumi always claimed innocence in the incident, with him and other players pointing the finger at Algerian goalkeeperKamel Kadri instead.^[41]

There was tragedy during the second round Group C match betweenNigeria andAngola on 12 August 1989 at theLagos National Stadium when 24-year-old Nigerian midfielder (and qualified lawyer)Samuel Okwaraji collapsed and died ofcongestive heart failure in the 77th minute.^[42][43]

Egypt were placed inGroup F withEngland,Netherlands, andIreland. It turned out to be one of the tightest groups in World Cup history, with five draws in six games. Egypt drew 1–1 with the Netherlands, drew 0–0 with Ireland, but lost their final match 0–1 to England. Egypt's only goal of the tournament was a penalty byMagdi Abdelghani against the Netherlands. Egypt were thus eliminated from World Cup, still without a win after losing their only match in 1934.

Cameroon were undoubtedly the surprise package of the tournament. Led by Russian tactician, managerValery Nepomnyashchy,^[44] in their first match, they shockedDiego Maradona's defending championsArgentina 1–0 through a goal byFrançois Omam-Biyik, despite finishing their match with nine men. In their next match, they defeatedRomania 2–1 thanks to two goals from 38-year-old substituteRoger Milla. These were Milla's first official goals in the World Cup; he had had a goal againstPeru wrongly disallowed for offside during the1982 FIFA World Cup. Having already qualified for the next round, Cameroon then suffered their first loss (after three draws and two wins) in World Cup history, losing 4–0 to the already eliminatedSoviet Union. In the second round, Cameroon defeatedColombia 2–1, with Milla again coming on as a second-half substitute to score twice, famously dispossessing Colombian goalkeeperRené Higuita for one of them. By this time, Roger Milla, his post-goal celebrations, and Cameroon had firmly implanted themselves in the global footballing consciousness. In the quarter finals, they were seven minutes from qualifying for the semi-finals whenEngland were awarded a penalty. England won the match 3–2 after extra time, with three of the five goals coming from penalties (1 for Cameroon, 2 for England).

40 African countries entered thequalification process for 3 spots at the1994 FIFA World Cup. The extra spot was awarded after the strong performances of Cameroon and Egypt atItalia 90. However, only 28 played all their matches afterFIFA rejectedLibya (due toUN sanctions) and 11 other nations withdrew at various stages. There was a new qualification format, with two group stages. The big casualty of the first stage was 1990 finalistsEgypt, as crowd trouble inCairo turned a 2–1 home victory overZimbabwe into a crucial0–0 draw whenFIFA ordered the match replayed at a neutral location.

In the new second stage of qualification were three groups of three, with winners qualifying for the World Cup. TheSuper Eagles of Nigeria wonGroup A on goal difference, beating bothIvory Coast andAlgeria 4–1 in Lagos. InGroup C, Cameroon won the group with 3 wins and a loss away to second placed Zimbabwe, withGuinea coming third.

InGroup B wereMorocco,Senegal, andZambia. In the first match, Morocco beat Senegal 1–0. In the second match, Zambia were to face Senegal inDakar. However, the plane carrying the Zambian teamcrashed en route on 28 April 1993. The crash, attributed to mechanical problems and pilot error, killed all thirty people on board, including nearly the entire football team – 18 players – and coaches, support staff, and plane crew. (The Zambian government had yet to release a report on the investigation of the crash of the military plane even ten years later.^[45][46]) Only two European-based players from the original squad missed the flight –Charles Musonda ofAnderlecht, who was injured, and captainKalusha Bwalya,^[47] who was flying in from Europe where he played withPSV Eindhoven. All matches in the group were postponed for a month. Zambia hastily put together a new team, captained by Bwalya, and defeated Morocco 2–1 in Lusaka in the first match with the new team with goals from Kalusha Bwalya andJohnson Bwalya (not related). However, they lost their final group match 0–1 to Morocco inCasablanca and Morocco wonGroup B by one point. Amazingly, the rebuiltChipolopolo (Copper Bullets) also went on to reach the finals of the1994 African Cup of Nations.

At the1994 FIFA World Cup finals in the U.S.,Cameroon drew their first game inGroup B with eventual semi-finalistsSweden 2–2 and lost their second to eventual winnersBrazil 0–3. They were 0–3 down toRussia in their third match when half-time substituteRoger Milla scored in the 46th minute (becoming at 42 the oldest man ever to score at the World Cup finals) and sparked brief hopes of a miracle comeback. However, the final score was a 1–6 loss to Russia, withOleg Salenko netting a record-breaking five goals in vain. InGroup F, Morocco lost its three matches by a goal each, 0–1 toBelgium, 1–2 toSaudi Arabia, and 1–2 to theNetherlands.

InGroup D,Nigeria thumped eventual semi-finalistsBulgaria 3–0, then fell to a 1–2 loss toArgentina before beatingGreece 2–0. Nigeria, Bulgaria, and Argentina all finished on six points and qualified for the second round. In thesecond round, Nigeria facedItaly.Emmanuel Amuneke scored in the 25th minute, leaving Nigeria with a 1–0 lead two minutes from the next round whenRoberto Baggio scored in the 88th minute. Baggio scored again in extra time to send Nigeria home.

This was the third successive World Cup where an African team progressed beyond the first stage, after Morocco in1986 and Cameroon in1990. This was a major factor in FIFA increasing Africa's allocation from 3 to 5 spots as the World Cup expanded from 24 to 32 four years later.

38 African countries entered thequalification process for 5 spots at the1998 FIFA World Cup, the two new spots resulting from the tournament's expansion from 24 to 32 teams. This was the first time that three points, instead of two, were awarded for a win.Burundi won both their first round qualification matches but then had to withdraw due to civil war.Sierra Leone, who they had just eliminated, took their place in the second round, and then became the first nation in World Cup qualifying history to be eliminated twice in the same qualifying campaign.^[27] Eventually, Cameroon, Morocco, Nigeria, and Tunisia qualified for the World Cup finals along with newcomersBafana Bafana of South Africa, who had only been readmitted toFIFA in 1992.

The five African teams all took European coaches (threeFrenchmen,one Serb,one Pole) to the finals, making it the first time since 1974 that there was no African coach at the World Cup.^[48]

InGroup A,Morocco drew their first match 2–2 withNorway and then lost 0–3 toBrazil. The last two matches in the group were played simultaneously (as they had after theDisgrace of Gijón in 1982) – with ten minutes left, Morocco were leading Scotland 2–0 while Brazil led Norway 1–0. But Norway scored twice in the 83rd and 88th minutes to beat Brazil 2–1.^[49] Morocco also scored once more to beat Scotland 3–0, but went home.

InGroup B,Cameroon drew their first match 1–1 withAustria (the Austrians equalizing in the 90th minute) but then lost 0–3 toItaly.Cameroon could have progressed if they won their final group match againstChile, but they drew 1–1 and went home. During the final match, Cameroon'sRigobert Song became the first man to pick up red cards at two World Cups – he was sent off as a 17-year-oldagainst Brazil in 1994. (The second man to be red carded at two World Cups would beZinedine Zidane eight years later.)

InGroup C,South Africa began their debut World Cup finals campaign with a 0–3 loss to hosts and eventual championsFrance. They then drew 1–1 withDenmark,Benni McCarthy scoring their first World Cup finals goal. They needed to win big in their final match againstSaudi Arabia but could only manage a 2–2 draw, giving away two penalties and only managing to equalize late into injury time with their own penalty, taken by brace-scorerShaun Bartlett.

InGroup D,Nigeria opened with a 3–2 win over fanciedSpain and another 1–0 win overBulgaria. Having qualified for the next stage, they then lost 1–3 toParaguay. Both Nigeria and Paraguay qualified for the next stage, with Spain losing out despite thumping Bulgaria 6–1. However, in the Round of 16, Nigeria were beaten 1–4 byDenmark. All Nigeria's six goals in the tournament came from six different players.^[50]

InGroup G,Tunisia lost their first two matches 0–2 toEngland and 0–1 toColombia. They then managed to draw 1–1 withRomania, who had won their first two matches and topped the group. Thus Tunisia's second appearance at the World Cup (after 1978) ended in them scoring only one goal, a penalty.

Thus only 2 of Africa's 5 representatives came away with at least one win. However, there was an African representative in the second round for the fourth time in succession.

51 African countries entered thequalification process for five spots at the2002 FIFA World Cup. Four of the five 1998 finalists again made it through, withLes Lions de la Teranga (Teranga Lions^[51]) of Senegal replacingMorocco.Senegal and Morocco topped thesame qualification group each with four wins, three draws, and a loss, but Senegal had a seven-goal superior goal difference thanks to their 9–0 aggregate thrashings of group minnowsNamibia. In contrast, the Namibians had managed to hold Morocco to a goalless draw inWindhoek.

LikeCameroon 12 years earlier, Senegal started with a shock 1–0 win over the defending champions and went on to reach the quarter finals. InGroup A, after beatingFrance 1–0 with a goal fromPapa Bouba Diop, they drew 1–1 with eventual group winnersDenmark. In their final match againstUruguay, they were leading 3–0 at half-time. In the second half, the South Americans – for whom a win would have them progress at Senegal's expense – scored twice, and then a third time with an 88th-minute penalty kick. Senegal survived the frenetic final minutes of the game to hang on to a 3–3 result. Thus Denmark and Senegal progressed to the next round while former champions Uruguay and France went home. In the Round of 16, agolden goal in extra time (to add to his 37th-minute strike) fromHenri Camara took Senegal 2–1 pastSweden after extra time. But in the quarter-finals againstTurkey, they were eliminated by a golden goal four minutes into extra time.

InGroup B, South Africa drew 2–2 withParaguay with an injury time penalty, then scored their first ever World Cup win by beatingSlovenia 1–0. However a 2–3 loss toSpain then sentSouth Africa home. InGroup E, Cameroon drew 1–1 withRepublic of Ireland, beatSaudi Arabia 1–0, and then lost 0–2 toGermany. InGroup F, Nigeria lost 0–1 toArgentina, lost 1–2 toSweden, and having been eliminated, heldEngland to a 0–0 draw. InGroup H, Tunisia lost 0–2 toRussia, drew 1–1 withBelgium, and lost 0–2 to co-hostsJapan.

Of Africa's five representatives, three won at least once, but only one progressed beyond the first round. Still, Senegal's surprise run made it the fifth successive time an African nation had made it to the Round of 16, and the second time an African country had reached the quarter finals. Three of the five African nations (South Africa, Nigeria, Tunisia) took a local coach to the World Cup; only one of those three scored a win.

51 African countries entered the race for 5 spots at the2006 FIFA World Cup in aqualification process that doubled as one for the2006 Africa Cup of Nations. In the final qualification round, teams were organized into five groups of six teams, with winners qualifying for the World Cup and the top three for thecontinental tournament. More matches were needed to qualify – while at both the 1998 and 2002 32-team World Cups, 3 of the 5 African teams played only 6 matches to get to the finals, here 3 of the 5 teams that qualified played 12 matches.Four of Africa's five representatives to the2006 FIFA World Cup finals were debutants, in contrast to2002 when four of five had appeared at theprevious World Cup.

InGroup 1, Togo beat 2002 World Cup quarterfinalistsSenegal by two points. TheBlack Stars of Ghana wonGroup 2 by five points while inGroup 3,Les Éléphants of Ivory Coast lost both its matches toCameroon but won the group since Cameroon drew too often. InGroup 5, Tunisia won the group one point ahead of 1998 finalists and perennial rivalsMorocco. Although Morocco was the only African team (of those who played a match) to remain undefeated, it drew half its matches. InGroup 4,Angola andNigeria both finished with 21 points after 10 matches, with Nigeria having a far superior goal difference thanks largely to scoring five goals against bothAlgeria and 3rd placedZimbabwe in their last two matches. However, it had already been decided that head-to-head results were to be used to break such ties in2006 World Cup Qualification before goal difference. ThePalancas Negras (Black Antelopes) of Angola, having beatenNigeria 2–1 on aggregate, qualified for the World Cup.

At theWorld Cup Finals,Ivory Coast lost its first twoGroup C matches 1–2 toArgentina and 1–2 to theNetherlands before coming back from 0–2 down to beatSerbia and Montenegro 3–2. InGroup D,Angola – the only African team at the finals with a local coach (Luís Oliveira Gonçalves) – lost their first match 0–1 toPortugal, then drew 0–0 withMexico and 1–1 withIran. InGroup G,Togo made more news off the pitch with disputes over team bonuses causing coach Otto Pfister to walk out on the team until just before the first match and FIFA officials having to step in to stop players threatening to boycott the second match.^[52]Togo lost 1–2 toSouth Korea, lost 0–2 toSwitzerland, and 0–2 to eventual finalistsFrance. InGroup H,Tunisia drew 2–2 withSaudi Arabia, lost 1–3 toSpain (including an injury time penalty fromFernando Torres), and 0–1 toUkraine.

InGroup E, Ghana began with up a 0–2 loss to eventual winnersItaly with a 2–0 win over theCzech Republic and a 2–1 win over theU.S. Thus the debutants ensured an African representative in the Round of 16 for the sixth successive World Cup. They lost 3–0 toBrazil in the Round of 16. The match was later alleged to have beenfixed,^[53] charges immediately denied by theGhana Football Association.^[54]

While for the sixth successive time there was an African team in the Round of 16, Africa remained the only continent (other than Oceania) to never have two teams reach the Round of 16 at the same World Cup.

The2010 FIFA World Cup was the first time that theFIFA World Cup was staged inAfrica, withSouth Africa being the hosts and thus qualifying automatically, to be a sixth African team in the draw alongside the now-regular five who made it through the qualifying process. Theirnational team became the first World Cup hosts to get knocked out in the first round, though only on goal difference after a draw with Mexico in their opening match (in which South Africa'sKatlego Mphela hit the post in the last minute), then a 3–0 loss to Uruguay followed by a 2–1 win over France (in which Mphela was again unlucky, scoring one of the goals but being denied three more by two fine saves and the woodwork again):^[55] Mexico finished second ahead of them by virtue of a smaller loss to Uruguay and a larger win over France. Nigeria, Algeria, Ivory Coast and Cameroon also exited the tournament after the Group stages.

However,Ghana progressed beyond the group stages of the FIFA World Cup for the second time in a row, and defeated theU.S. 2–1 after extra time in the Round of 16, which saw them reach the quarter-finals, becoming the third African nation to do so. In the quarter-finals, they were eliminated byUruguay. Ghana were defeated by Uruguay on penalties afterLuis Suárez controversially handballed on thegoal line deep into extra time, denying Ghana an almost certain winning goal. The penalty that followed was missed byAsamoah Gyan.^[56] Had Ghana won their quarter final they would have become the very first African nation to progress to the semi-finals of the world cup. Of the 32 countries that participated in the2010 FIFA World Cup, FIFA ranked Ghana 7th.^[57]

The2014 FIFA World Cup inBrazil marked the first time more than one African team went beyond the group stages. WhileGhana andCameroon both collected disappointing results (apart from Ghana's 2–2 draw with later champions Germany, which saw them becoming the only team not to lose against the Germans in the entire tournament) and eventually ended fourth in their group,Ivory Coast were also knocked out in the first round after a last-minute penalty kick againstGreece and ended third in Group C, above Japan, whom they had defeated 2–1 in their first match.

Africa's pride, however, was saved by bothNigeria andAlgeria. The Nigerians kicked off their Group F campaign with a disappointing 0–0 draw againstIran, before eventually defeating debutantsBosnia and Herzegovina 1–0.Stephen Keshi's team went down 3–2 to later finalistsArgentina in their final match, leaving them on the brink of elimination, but Iran lost to the Bosnians 3–1 and Nigeria went through to the Round of 16 for the third time in history, after1998 and1994.

Algeria lost 2–1 to a strongBelgium in their opening match in Group H, a loss which was followed by an unexpected 4–2 victory over theSouth Korea inPorto Alegre in their second match. In their final Group H encounter, a hard-won 1–1 draw withRussia was enough to send the North Africans through to the next round.

In the Round of 16, both African teams fell just short to beat the likes ofFrance (Nigeria) and Germany (Algeria), but the fact that two African nations had reached that far, was a reason to be optimistic about the future of African football.

During the 2014 edition, Ghana strikerAsamoah Gyan became Africa's all-time leading topscorer at the FIFA World Cup, having scored 6 goals in 3 World Cups, thus exceeding Cameroon veteranRoger Milla's 5 goals.

The2018 FIFA World Cup inRussia saw early elimination forEgypt,Morocco andTunisia who all lost their first two group games.Nigeria also lost their first group game againstCroatia 2–0, but the team got a win in their second game, overIceland 2–0, leaving them with a chance if they could get a result against 2014 finalistsArgentina. However, they lost the decisive game, Argentina scoring the winner with just four minutes left to win 2–1, and were eliminated after finishing third inGroup D.

Senegal won their opening game againstPoland 2–1, and drew their second game againstJapan 2-2, leaving them needing a draw in their final game againstColombia to be sure of progressing. However, they went down 0–1, and because Japan lost 0–1 as well, Senegal and Japan were level on points (4), goal difference (+0), goals scored (4) and on the head-to-head result between the teams (2-2). However, they bowed out due to the fair play tiebreaker - the first team ever to be eliminated by this particular tiebreaker method, implemented for the first time that year - having received six yellow cards to Japan's four over the course of the three games, finishing third inGroup H, resulting in all African teams being eliminated in the group stage for the first time since 1982.

Out of 54 teams that entered the qualifying competition, Africa's five qualifiers for the World Cup were Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, Cameroon and Ghana. Ghana's qualification was particularly close: needing to win their last match against South Africa in thesecond-round group stage, their 1–0 win saw them just pip South Africa on goals scored, the teams being level on goal difference and points. The other nine group winners all won their groups outright on points, to put ten teams into thethird round consisting of five two-legged playoffs. And then in Ghana's play-off against Nigeria, both matches were drawn 0-0 and 1-1, but Ghana qualified on away goals. Cameroon also required the away-goals rule against Algeria, and Senegal went through only on a penalty shoot-out against Egypt. Morocco defeated DR Congo, and Tunisia defeated Mali, to complete the third qualification round. All five African teams won at least one match, four of them defeating the group's official top-seed favourites (although this includes hosts Qatar, who were only a "top seed" by virtue of being the hosts). Senegal and Morocco in fact were each to score two victories in the group stages (the first time two African teams had achieved this in the same World Cup), en route to qualifying for the second round.

Senegal, inGroup A, had to play Holland in their opening match, giving a good account of themselves but conceding two late goals to lose 2–0. They performed better against the host team Qatar, beating them 3–1, and found themselves in the position of needing to beat Ecuador in their final match to qualify. They duly won 2–1 to finish second in their group behind the Dutch, and set up a second-round tie against England - becoming in the process the first African team to win two matches in the group stage since Nigeria in 1998. Senegal had a couple of good chances early on - Sarr had one shot saved, and spooned another over the bar - but England's Henderson and Kane both scored before half-time, and another was added afterwards by Saka, to preserve their unbeaten record against African nations with a 3–0 win and end Senegal's run.

Tunisia, inGroup D, drew their opening match with Denmark 0-0, but then lost 1–0 to Australia and went into their final match needing to beat the current world champions,France and hoping for a draw in the other match. Tunisia scored the upset win that they needed - a late French equalizer being denied for offside - but Australia and Denmark failed to oblige, Australia's victory keeping them in second place ahead of the African team, who finished third in the group.

Morocco fared better inGroup F.^[58] Although drawn in a group with Croatia and Belgium, who had come second and third in the previous2018 FIFA World Cup, they managed a 0–0 draw against Croatia and followed up with a 2–0 victory over Belgium. A draw against group minnows Canada, the latter already mathematically eliminated, would have been enough to qualify for the second stage, and in fact Morocco took a 2–0 lead with half an hour gone. They conceded an own-goal just before half-time, but that was the final goal of the game: Morocco's 2–1 victory was enough not just to qualify but to win the group, thanks to a draw between Belgium and Croatia. Morocco thus became the first African side to go through the group stage unbeaten since Senegal in2002 (Morocco themselves having also achieved the feat in 1986): and the second African team to take first place in their group twice, following on from Nigeria in 1994 and 1998 and Morocco's own exploits of 1986. Morocco's 7 points (2 wins, 1 draw) was a new African record as well (ahead of Nigeria's achievements in 1994 and 1998)

The second-round match against Spain was a dour, defensive affair in which Spain had nearly all the possession but few clear chances at goal, Morocco too had only two shots on target and both were saved. In the last minute of extra time, Sarabia hit the post for Spain: the game went to penalties, and after the first three for each side, Morocco were 2-0 up, all three Spaniards having missed. Morocco's fourth penalty was scored by Hakimi, the player born in Madrid knocking Spain out of the World Cup and sending Morocco to the quarter-finals for the first time. And in the quarter-final, Morocco were to play Portugal - who, like Spain, had the majority of the possession but not many chances, Morocco prepared to sit back and try to counter-attack. A couple of chances thus fell toYoussef En-Nesyri, who missed the first two, but scored just before half-time to give Morocco the lead. Portugal were unable to force an equalizer. Bruno Fernandes hit the post, and both Cristiano Ronaldo's shot and Pepe's late header in injury-time flew wide of the post. Even though the injury-time dismissal of Cheddira for a second bookable offence saw them reduced to ten men, Morocco held on to their 1–0 lead and became the first African nation to reach the semi-finals. Unfortunately, Morocco's fairy tale journey ended as they faltered 2–0 to France in the semi-finals, despite dominating possession and a nearly equal amount of shots to the world champions, and thus Morocco failed to make history as the first African team in the final of a FIFA World Cup. In the third place battle against Croatia, Morocco lost 2–1 to the European opponents and thus, matched the result of South Korea in 2002 as Morocco took a fourth-place finish.

Cameroon fared less well inGroup G. A 1–0 defeat against Switzerland was followed by a ding-dong 3–3 draw against Serbia in which Cameroon took the lead but conceded two goals in first-half injury time, to go in trailing at the break: Serbia scored a third before Cameroon rallied and levelled the score, but neither team was able to force a winner. This unfortunately left Cameroon with the tall order of needing a victory against Brazil, who were already qualified as top of the group and made nine changes to give their second-string players a game, and still needing to hope that Switzerland failed to beat Serbia. Surprisingly, Cameroon did in fact beat Brazil with an injury-time winner fromVincent Aboubakar - who received his second yellow card of the game for his over-enthusiastic celebration and was thus red-carded: Cameroon became the first team to beat Brazil in a group-stage match since Norway in 1998, the first African team to beat Brazil in the FIFA World Cup, and also Cameroon's first-ever win since 2002, but it was to no avail since Switzerland beat Serbia 3–2 to hold on to second place and leave Cameroon in third.

Ghana's first two matches, inGroup H, saw a lot of goals. Against Portugal, the match was goalless till halfway through the second half, when an incident in the penalty area saw video evidence used to award Portugal a penalty, from which they scored. Ghana equalized shortly afterwards, but then conceded two more quick goals to trail 3–1, pulling back a late goal in the last minute but failing to force an equalizer in injury time, Ghana eventually lost 3–2. In the second match against South Korea, Ghana surged into a 2–0 lead at half-time: South Korea pulled both goals back early in the second half, only for Ghana to score a third shortly afterwards and then withstand Korean pressure to hold on for a 3–2 win. This left them in second place in the group before their final match against Uruguay: a win or a draw would have put them through, and things looked promising when Ghana were awarded an early penalty, which was taken byAndré Ayew - the only remaining Ghanaian player from the 2010 quarter-final against Uruguay. However, it was saved: then Uruguay scored two goals before half-time. South Korea's injury-time victory over Portugal in the other match, putting them ahead of Uruguay on goals scored, forced both sides to go for broke in the final stages - Uruguay in search of a third to improve their goal difference, Ghana in search of getting some goals back - but neither side was able to put the ball in the net, Uruguay's victory serving only to overtake Ghana for third place and condemn the Africans to last place in the group.

• 1934:Egypt, first African country at the World Cup
• 1934:Abdulrahman Fawzi ofEgypt, first African to score at the World Cup, who scored both Egypt's goals in 2–4 loss againstHungary. He netted a third, but was ruled offside.^[24]
• 1970:Morocco, first African country to draw a match at the World Cup Finals, with 1–1 draw withBulgaria
• 1974:Zaire, first African team to finish without scoring in the World Cup finals.
• 1974:Kidumu Mantantu ofZaire, first African player to receive a yellow card at the World Cup (againstScotland on 14 June 1974).^[59]
• 1974:Mulamba Ndaye ofZaire, first African player to receive a red card at the World Cup (againstYugoslavia on 18 June 1974).^[32]
• 1978:Tunisia, first African country to win a match at the World Cup Finals, 3–1 overMexico
• 1978:Abdelmajid Chetali of Tunisia, first African coach at the World Cup Finals
• 1982:Algeria, first African team to win twice at the group stage (The first team eliminated after winning twice in the group stages of the FIFA World Cup)
• 1982: FIFA introduced a revised qualification system at subsequent World Cups in which the final two games in each group were played simultaneously afterAlgeria protesting against its controversial elimination from the group stage caused by the match namedDisgrace of Gijón.
• 1986:Algeria, first African team to qualify twice in a row (1982 and 1986)
• 1986:Morocco, first African team to reach round of 16, also first African team to win their group in the group stages.
• 1990:Cameroon, first African team to win over the reigning championsArgentina 1-0
• 1990:Cameroon, first team in the history of the World Cup to win a match with nine players only, beatingArgentina 1-0
• 1990:Cameroon, first African team to reach quarter-finals.
• 1990:Magdi Abdelghani ofEgypt, first African to score a penalty at the World Cup in the1–1 draw against theNetherlands
• 1994:Nigeria scored the biggest African win at the World Cup Finals, 3–0 overBulgaria
• 1994:Roger Milla ofCameroon, the oldest player to score at World Cup Finals, aged 42, againstRussia. (Russia won the match 6–1)
• 1998:Youssef Chippo ofMorocco. first African to score an own goal at the World Cup, in the2–2 draw againstNorway on 10 June 1998. Two days later,Pierre Issa ofSouth Africa scored an own goal in the0–3 loss toFrance.
• 1998:Nigeria, first African team to qualify to the round of 16 for the 2nd time in its history of participations
• 2010:South Africa, first African country tohost the World Cup
• 2010:Itumeleng Khune ofSouth Africa, first African goalkeeper to receive a red card at the World Cup (againstUruguay. He was the second goalkeeper ever sent off at the World Cup Finals, after Italy'sGianluca Pagliuca at the1994 FIFA World Cup)
• 2010:Ghana, first African team to reach the quarter finals after reaching the round of 16 in the previous world cup.
• 2010:Rabah Saâdane of Algeria, first African coach to coach twice at the World Cup Finals
• 2014:Algeria andNigeria, first occasion in which two African teams qualified for round of 16
• 2014:Nigeria, first African team to qualify to the round of 16 for the three times in its history of participations
• 2014:Algeria, first African team to score four goals in one match, in the4–2 win againstSouth Korea
• 2014:Stephen Keshi ofNigeria, first African coach to reach round of 16
• 2018:Essam El-Hadary ofEgypt, the oldest player and captain in the history of the World Cup Finals, aged 45 years and 161 days, againstSaudi Arabia.
• 2018: Essam El-Hadary of Egypt, first African goalkeeper to save a penalty at the World Cup Finals.
• 2018:Senegal, first team to be eliminated due to the fair play points tiebreaker.
• 2018:Sofyan Amrabat ofMorocco, who came on as a substitute for his brotherNordin Amrabat in the 76th minute in the group match against Iran, is the first player in World Cup history to come in for his brother.^[60]
• 2022:Walid Regragui ofMorocco, first African coach to reach quarter-finals
• 2022:Morocco, first African team to reach semi-finals.
• 2022: Walid Regragui of Morocco, first African coach to reach semi-finals
• 2022: First World Cup where every African team won at least one match(excluding World Cups withonly one African team).
• 2030:Morocco, first North African country and second African country to host the World Cup.

• 1978 WCQ:Tunisia, first African team to use penalties in World Cup Qualification, beating Morocco 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw.^[26][27]
• 2002 WCQ:Abdul Hamid Bassiouny ofEgypt, the fastest-ever hat-trick in an "A" international, scored a hat-trick in 177 seconds againstNamibia inAlexandria on 13 July 2001 during an 8–2 win by Egypt.^[27][61]
• 2010 WCQ:Algeria, most matches played by an African team to qualify for the World Cup Finals, 13 matches

• Football in Africa
• FIFA World Cup records and statistics