Ghana close to qualifying, Egypt book their 2026 ticket

by Graeme Jackson

Wednesday Oct 08, 2025. 23:00

Ghana have all but qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while Egypt have booked their ticket to the global showpiece, as Matchday 9 of Africa’s qualification kicked off with 11 games across the continent on Wednesday.

Egypt, inspired by a brace from Mohamed Salah, claimed a straightforward 3-0 win ‘away’ to Djibouti in Casablanca, with the early-evening result securing top spot in Group A. The Pharaohs have therefore secured qualification for the fourth time, and will add to their previous appearances at the World Cup in 1934, 1990 and 2018.

Elsewhere in the early-evening block, Ghana crushed the CAR 5-0 in a Group I clash in El Jadida (goals from Mohammed Salisu, Thomas Partey, Alexander Djiku, Jordan Ayew and Kamaldeen Sulemana) to move within touching distance of qualification.

The Black Stars hold a three-point lead over nearest chasers Madagascar (who defeated Comoros 2-1 in Abidjan thanks to strikes from Clement Couturier and El Hadary Raheriniaina) and have a significantly better goal difference (+16 to +8), meaning only a complete disaster at home to Comoros on Sunday will trip them up on the path to North America 2026.

In addition to wins for Egypt, Ghana and Madagascar, the early-evening also saw Mali triumph 2-0 away to Chad in N’Djamena (Group I), and Burkina Faso edged Sierra Leone 1-0 in Paynesville (Group A) to boost their hopes of being one of the top-ranked runners up.

The late matches were from Group E, with Niger leapfrogging into second place (behind already-qualified Morocco) thanks to a 3-1 triumph over Congo in Ouagadougou – taking full advantage of a 1-0 win for Zambia away to Tanzania in Zanzibar City. Daniel Sosah, Youssef Oumarou and Victorien Adebayor scored for the Menas, while Chipolopolo’s goal came from Fashion Sakala.

The afternoon block of matches focused on Group D and Cape Verde’s push to secure qualification with a game to spare. The Blue Sharks needed to win away to Libya at the Tripoli International Stadium, but found themselves 3-1 down after an early own goal and strikes by Ezoo El Mariamy and Mahmoud Al Shalwi.

However, the island nation fought back to salvage a 3-3 draw via late goals from Sidny Cabral and Willy Semedo – they were unable to find a winner at the death, but remain two points clear at the top of the standings and firm favourites to beat Eswatini next Monday and punch their ticket.

Two points behind Cape Verde is Cameroon, who laboured to a 2-0 away win over minnows Mauritius in Saint Pierre after goals from Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu and Bryan Mbeumo.

Elsewhere in the afternoon, Angola came from two down to hold hosts Eswatini 2-2 in Lobamba, while a Group A clash in neutral Kigali saw Ethiopia defeat Guinea-Bissau 1-0 courtesy of Ramkel James’s first-half header.

Matchday 9 continues with six games on Thursday, headlined by Algeria looking to secure a ticket to the World Cup for the first time since 2014.

2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers (CAF/Africa)

Results, Wednesday 8 October

Libya 3-3 Cape Verde

Mauritius 0-2 Cameroon

Ethiopia 1-0 Guinea-Bissau

Eswatini 2-2 Angola

Chad 0-2 Mali

Comoros 1-2 Madagascar

Sierra Leone 0-1 Burkina Faso

Central Africa Republic 0-5 Ghana

Djibouti 0-3 Egypt – *Egypt secured qualification

Tanzania 0-1 Zambia

Niger 3-1 Congo