World Cup
Gruelling African World Cup qualifying gets under way
More places for Africa at the next World Cup finals has not lessened the intensity of the qualifying process, often described as the toughest in world football, and which kicks off this week.
Qualification for the 2026 tournament has begun in Asia and South America, and Africa starts its two-year qualifying campaign on Wednesday to determine who will fill the nine automatic places for the continent at the event co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
The expansion of the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams means Africa’s quotas of finalists is increased from five to nine, with the possibility of another place through a new playoff system that has been introduced.
The long distances to travel, combined with poor and infrequent flight connections, extreme climatic conditions, Spartan facilities and a culture of hostility towards visiting teams have earned Africa’s qualifying process a reputation for being the hardest of the six continental confederations.
Carlos Queiroz, who coached Colombia, Egypt, Iran, Portugal, South Africa and now Qatar, once described the African preliminaries as “a nightmare”.
For the 2026 World Cup, the 54 African entrants were divided into nine groups with only the winners assured of a place at the finals.
The four best-ranked runners-up will participate in a playoff to determine one team that will go onto the new-style intercontinental playoff tournament, in which one side from each continent will meet in a mini tournament to determine the last two places in the World Cup line-up
A total of 13 African countries, starting with Egypt in 1934, have played at the World Cup finals. Cameroon are the most frequent participants with eight finals appearances.
They begin their campaign with a home match in Douala on Friday against Mauritius before a more testing trip to Libya next Tuesday in Group D.
Morocco, who last year became the first African country to reach the World Cup semi-finals, were supposed to start against Eritrea on Thursday, but the small east African nation has withdrawn.
HERMIT COUNTRY
No reason was given but the hermit country on the horn of Africa has previously seen players defect and seek political asylum when they have gone abroad to compete.
Morocco’s first match in Group E is next Tuesday’s visit to Tanzania, who they also face in January’s Africa Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast.
Zimbabwe, kicked out of the last qualifiers because they had failed to settle the contract of a former coach, return from another ban, this time for political meddling in the running of their football association, to face Rwanda away on Wednesday in the first of the 260 African group qualifiers which end in October 2025
Zimbabwe have not played a full international in almost two years and are among 19 countries whose facilities have been condemned as not up to international standard and been forced to move their home games to a neutral venue.
Zimbabwe will stay in Rwanda after Wednesday’s opening Group C match and host Nigeria there on Sunday.
The others banned from playing at home are Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Eswatini, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Guinea, Lesotho, Namibia, Niger, Sao Tome e Principe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan.
–Reuters
By Kunle Solaja.
Global music stars Shakira and Burna Boy have joined forces to release Dai Dai, the Official Song of the FIFA World Cup 2026, in support of the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund.
FIFA announced on Friday that the song, released via Sony Music Latin, is now available on all major streaming platforms as excitement continues to build ahead of the expanded World Cup tournament to be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico next year.
According to FIFA, Dai Dai combines the global sounds and energy of Shakira and Burna Boy in what it described as a vibrant celebration of football, culture and unity.
The song will also serve a humanitarian purpose, with royalties supporting the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, an initiative targeting the raising of $100 million before the end of the tournament to provide children around the world with access to quality education and football opportunities.
FIFA revealed that Shakira will donate her royalties from the song to the fund, while Sony Music will match the first $250,000 raised through an additional contribution.
The release further strengthens Burna Boy’s growing global profile and marks another major collaboration between African music and international football events.
FIFA also confirmed that Shakira will co-headline the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Halftime Show on July 19, introducing a historic first for the World Cup final. The halftime spectacle is expected to unite global artists in a celebration blending sport, music and social impact in support of the education fund.
Dai Dai follows earlier releases including Lighter, Por Ella, Echo and Illuminate as part of the buildup to the Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Album, with more singles expected in the coming weeks.
FIFA said the album project reflects the diversity and global spirit of the World Cup by featuring artists from different continents, genres and cultures, while using football and music as unifying forces for fans worldwide.
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Uncapped goalkeeper Robin Risser and Crystal Palace duo Maxence Lacroix and Jean-Philippe Mateta were all named in France’s World Cup squad by coach Didier Deschamps on Thursday.
Risser was picked on the back of his performances for Racing Lens, who will finish second in Ligue 1 and compete in the French Cup final later this month. The 21-year-old was voted Ligue 1’s best goalkeeper earlier this week.
He gets a first call-up at the expense of Lucas Chevalier, who had been expected to feature but was overlooked after losing his starting berth in the Paris Saint-Germain team and being sidelined injured. Chevalier has not played since January.
Striker Mateta, who debuted last October, has won three caps and was selected ahead of Randal Kolo Muani to fill the place vacated by Hugo Ekitike, who suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon playing for Liverpool against PSG in the Champions League last month.
“He has a different profile to other strikers,” said Deschamps of his choice.
CAMAVINGA WILL BE DISAPPOINTED WITH OMISSION
There was also speculation about whether Deschamps would stick with Eduardo Camavinga, after a disappointing season with Real Madrid, but the coach chose defender Lacroix, who made an impressive debut against Brazil in March.
“I would imagine it is a huge disappointment for him, but he has had a tough season with injury as well,” the coach said of Camavinga.
There were no other surprises in the 26-man squad, which has 10 players who featured in the last World Cup final in Qatar four years ago, while Lucas Hernandez, N’Golo Kante and Kylian Mbappe remain from the side that won in Moscow in 2018.
Captain Mbappe leads a formidable attack that also features Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele and rising star Michael Olise.
The squad was announced live on the main nightly news bulletin on France’s TF1 channel.
France compete in Group I at the World Cup against Iraq, Norway and Senegal.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Mike Maignan (AC Milan), Robin Risser (Racing Lens), Brice Samba (Stade Rennais)
Defenders: Lucas Digne (Aston Villa), Malo Gusto (Chelsea), Lucas Hernandez (Paris St Germain), Theo Hernandez (Al Hilal), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), Jules Kounde (Barcelona), Maxence Lacroix (Crystal Palace), William Saliba (Arsenal), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich).
Midfielders: N’Golo Kante (Fenerbahce), Manu Kone (Roma), Adrien Rabiot (AC Milan), Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris St Germain)
Forwards: Maghnes Akliouche (Monaco), Bradley Barcola (Paris St Germain), Rayan Cherki (Manchester City), Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue (both Paris St Germain), Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace), Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich), Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan).
-Reuters
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Carlo Ancelotti extended his contract as Brazil manager until the 2030 World Cup, the Brazilian soccer federation (CBF) said in a statement on Thursday.
Ancelotti joined Brazil in 2025 and will lead the team at this year’s World Cup, which kicks off on June 11 in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
-Reuters
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