Ivory Coast and Morocco Secure Crucial Victories in World Cup Qualification

African champions Ivory Coast and World Cup semi-finalists Morocco secured crucial points in their World Cup qualification campaigns, while Nigeria continues to struggle to find a win in the 2026 preliminaries.

Ivory Coast, playing their first home match since winning the Africa Cup of Nations in February, emerged victorious with a 1-0 win over Gabon thanks to Seko Fofana’s 36th-minute strike. The win propelled them to the top of Group F.

Morocco also claimed a vital victory as they defeated Zambia 2-1 in Agadir. Hakim Ziyech opened the scoring with a penalty in the sixth minute, followed by a goal from teenage debutant Eliesse Ben Seghir. Despite Zambia pulling one back, Morocco held on for the win.

Meanwhile, Nigeria was held to a 1-1 draw at home by South Africa, with Fisayo Dele-Bashiru equalizing just 37 seconds into the second half. Nigeria has now drawn all three of their opening qualifiers, leaving them searching for their first win.

Lesotho continued their impressive start to the qualifiers with a 2-0 win over Zimbabwe in Johannesburg. Rethabile Rasethuntsa and Thabantso Jane found the back of the net in the first half, securing Lesotho’s second win in three games.

In other matches, Burundi held Kenya to a 1-1 draw, Mozambique and Uganda secured home victories to join Algeria and Guinea at the top of their group standings, and Angola claimed a narrow 1-0 win over Eswatini.

Madagascar emerged victorious in the island derby against the Comoros with a 2-1 win, putting them level on points with Ghana and the Comoros at the top of Group I.

With nine African qualifying groups vying for a spot in the 2026 World Cup finals, the competition is heating up. The last two matches in the third round of qualification will be played on Saturday, with the fourth round set to kick off on Sunday. The stakes are high as teams battle for a chance to represent Africa on the global stage.