Brazil, Belgium and Spain all held: Africa’s bold start to the World Cup
Morocco, Egypt and Cape Verde all took points off the favourites and Ivory Coast went one better, even if not every African side enjoyed the same week.
Jun 17, 2026
When the World Cup expanded to 48 teams, the worry was that the extra places would hand the big nations a run of easy afternoons. A week into the tournament, Africa’s sides have spent their openers proving the opposite. Brazil, Belgium and Spain all walked off having dropped points to opponents they were expected to brush aside, and one African team went a step further and simply won.
It has not been a clean sweep, and pretending otherwise would do the continent’s performances a disservice. But the headline results have come from the teams most neutrals had written off before a ball was kicked.
Holding the favourites
Morocco set the tone against Brazil, taking the lead and forcing the five-time champions to dig out a 1-1 draw that leaned heavily on Vinicius Junior. For a side that reached the semi-finals in 2022, holding Brazil was less a shock than a statement of where Morocco now belong.
Egypt did something similar to Belgium. They led for long stretches and looked set to win until Belgium’s substitutes changed the game, the equaliser arriving through an own goal after Romelu Lukaku was introduced. A point against one of Europe’s deeper squads was the least Egypt deserved.
Cape Verde, a nation of just over half a million people on their World Cup debut, produced the most improbable result of the lot. They kept Spain out for ninety minutes, goalkeeper Vozinha turning in the kind of performance that gets a tournament talking, and walked away with a goalless draw that will mean more to them than almost any result of the group stage.
Ivory Coast go one better
Where the others settled for draws, Ivory Coast found a winner. Amad Diallo’s late strike saw off Ecuador and gave the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations winners three points from their opener, the sort of start that can shape a group. It was the result of the round that suggested an African side could go deep rather than simply spring a one-off surprise.
Put together, those four results read like a continent that has closed the gap on the supposed elite. The caveat is that this is one matchday, and a gutsy draw in game one counts for little if it is followed by defeats.
The other side of the ledger
Not every African team enjoyed the same week. Senegal, among the more fancied sides, lost to France. Tunisia were beaten heavily by Sweden, South Africa fell to Mexico in the opening match of the tournament, and Algeria were swept aside by Argentina. The continent’s strongest results have come from the teams carrying the least expectation, which is its own kind of story.
Still, the early returns are encouraging for anyone who wanted the expanded format to mean more than a procession for the usual names. Africa came into this World Cup with a point to prove about the distance between its best and the rest. A week in, Brazil, Belgium and Spain can all testify that the distance is shorter than the seedings suggest.