Morocco lead the way as Africa’s record 10 settle into the World Cup

A record 10 African teams travelled to North America for the first 48-team World Cup, the biggest contingent the continent has ever sent. A week and a half into the group stage, the early returns read like Africa’s football itself: one side flying, a cluster grinding out the points that matter, a debutant writing history, and a couple of familiar names already in trouble.

Morocco set the standard

No African team has started better than Morocco. They held Brazil to a 1-1 draw in their opener, then beat Scotland 1-0 through Ismael Saibari’s strike inside the opening two minutes, Brahim Diaz slipping him through almost from kick-off. Four points from two games leaves them level with Brazil at the top of Group C and unbeaten, and a side that reached the semi-finals in 2022 looks every bit as awkward to play against now.

That is the standard the rest of the continent is being measured against, and a few are not far behind.

Ivory Coast and Ghana keep the West African flag flying

Ivory Coast opened with a 1-0 win over Ecuador and then ran Germany close before going down 2-1, a defeat that flattered the gap between the sides more than the performance did. Three points from two games keeps them in the hunt in Group E. Ghana, back at a World Cup after missing 2018, scratched out a 1-0 win over Panama with a late goal and will fancy their chances of building on it.

The point-grinders and a debutant’s first chapter

Not every story is about wins. DR Congo earned what they could rightly call a landmark, holding Portugal to a 1-1 draw for a first-ever World Cup point. South Africa took something off Czechia in a 1-1 draw, and Egypt opened with a 1-1 result against Belgium before turning to the rest of their group. Then there is Cape Verde, one of the smallest nations ever to reach a World Cup, who held Spain to a 0-0 draw on their debut. For an island side of around half a million people, a clean sheet against the European champions is the kind of afternoon they will talk about for years.

Senegal, Tunisia and Algeria have work to do

The flip side is harder reading. Senegal, one of the continent’s most talented squads, lost their opener 3-1 to France, though with games to come there is time to recover. Algeria were beaten 3-0 by Argentina and need a response. The bleakest start belongs to Tunisia, who shipped five to Sweden and then four to Japan, two heavy defeats that have left them staring at an early exit before the group is even done.

The bigger picture

The expanded format was supposed to give the continent more room, and so far it has produced exactly the spread you would expect from 10 teams of very different levels. Morocco look ready to go deep. Several others are doing the unglamorous work of staying alive into the final round of group games. A few will go home early. What the bigger field has done is guarantee that more of these stories get told at all, and on the evidence of the opening fortnight, Africa has plenty worth watching.

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