Pharaohs rule, Sharks bite back, Elephants mugged in Toronto: Africa’s gloriously unhinged World Cup

SEVEN World Cup finals. Seventeen matches. Zero wins. That was Egypt’s grim ledger heading into this tournament, a statistic embarrassing enough to deserve its own laugh track. Then New Zealand turned up in Vancouver, took an early lead through Finn Surman’s header, and discovered precisely why one does not wake a sleeping Pharaoh. Mostafa Ziko levelled, Mohamed Salah – still doing this at an age when most wingers have swapped studs for slippers – cut inside and finished with the icy calm of a man who has scored against better defences on a wet Tuesday in Liverpool, and substitute Trezeguet added gloss with a header in the 84th minute. Final score: Egypt 3, New Zealand 1, and a 96-year wait for a first World Cup victory finally, gloriously over.

It followed a defiant 1-1 draw with Belgium in the tournament opener, Emam Ashour cancelling out the Red Devils in a result that looks rather better in hindsight, given Belgium have since contrived to draw with Iran as well and resemble a side allergic to winning football matches. Egypt sit proudly atop Group G on four points, needing only to avoid humiliation against Iran on Friday to secure the kind of group-stage authority Pharaohs are traditionally associated with. Hossam Hassan’s side have rediscovered the art of going forward with conviction – and Salah, so often cast this tournament as football’s designated late-career disappointment-in-waiting, has rather rudely declined to read the script written for him by Father Time.

The Blue Sharks Refuse to Drown

If Egypt’s story is an old footballing power reasserting itself, Cape Verde’s is the inverse: a nation of barely half a million people, fewer than several Johannesburg suburbs, arriving at its first ever World Cup and behaving as though it owns the place. The Blue Sharks held European champions Spain to a goalless draw in their opener – a result so improbable it turned 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha into an overnight global sensation, his save count translating into roughly 14 million new Instagram followers, presumably most of them now permanently, emotionally invested in a footballing minnow they had never previously heard of.

Then, as if one shock were insufficient, Cabo Verde did it again to two-time champions Uruguay, conceding twice in seven first-half minutes through Maxi Araújo and Agustín Canobbio before Kevin Pina’s outrageous 30-yard free kick – the nation’s first ever World Cup goal – and substitute Hélio Varela’s cool finish off a Fernando Muslera howler rescued a 2-2 draw. Two games, two draws, two of the tournament’s genuine giants left checking themselves for bruises. Cape Verde now face Saudi Arabia in their finale with their World Cup destiny, remarkably, in their own hands. Even coach Bubista, unflappable by trade, appears to be running short of words for what his side keep doing to people.

The Elephants Get Mugged in Toronto

Not every African story at this World Cup has a happy ending, and Ivory Coast discovered that the hard way against Germany. The Elephants had announced themselves with real menace in the opener, beating a defensively fortified Ecuador 1-0 through Amad Diallo, and they looked the better side for an hour in Toronto too, Franck Kessié poking home a rebound after Yan Diomande’s driving run and cross had Germany’s defence in knots. Julian Nagelsmann’s side — four-time champions in theory, bafflingly toothless in practice for an hour, and already denied two goals — looked headed for an upset of their own.

Then Germany did what well-resourced football nations occasionally do when staring down the barrel: they introduced Deniz Undav, a man with an unsettling habit of scoring World Cup goals from the substitutes’ bench. Undav volleyed home an equaliser in the 68th minute, then – with virtually the last kick of the match, in the 94th – swivelled and buried the winner, sending Ivory Coast home 2-1 down and Germany into the Round of 32 instead. It was less a football match than a smash-and-grab conducted in broad daylight, with Ivory Coast left checking their pockets. Emerse Faé’s side, four-time World Cup entrants still chasing a first-ever knockout appearance, must now beat Curaçao on 25 June to keep that dream alive. Their qualifying record – a clean sheet in all ten matches – counts for precisely nothing now; only three points will do.

The Rest of the Continental XI

Elsewhere, Africa’s representatives have offered a study in contrasts. Morocco have been quietly magnificent, holding Brazil to a 1-1 draw courtesy of Ismael Saibari’s outrageous chip over Alisson, then beating Scotland 1-0 through the same player’s fastest-ever Moroccan World Cup goal – completing 601 passes along the way, the most by any African side at a World Cup since 1966. The Atlas Lions, unbeaten in six successive World Cup group matches, sit handsomely on four points and look every bit the continent’s most complete unit.

Ghana provided late drama of their own, Caleb Yirenkyi scoring with virtually the last kick of stoppage time to sneak past Panama 1-0 in a match that finished with more shoving than a Lagos rush-hour minibus rank. The Black Stars face England on Tuesday needing to prove that result was substance rather than fortune.

Senegal and Algeria, both beaten on the opening day – the Lions of Teranga 3-1 by France, the Desert Foxes 3-0 by an imperious Lionel Messi hat-trick that equalled Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup scoring record – return to the field tonight against Norway and Jordan respectively, each needing something resembling a result to keep their tournaments breathing as this edition goes to press. Pape Thiaw and Vladimir Petković both know that defeat tonight effectively ends the conversation.

Tunisia, sadly, have already had that conversation. The Eagles of Carthage, who conceded not a single goal across an entire World Cup qualifying campaign, contrived to ship nine goals in two matches at the tournament itself – hammered 5-1 by Sweden and 4-0 by Japan – and became the first African side eliminated, their World Cup over before some teams had finished their second match.

South Africa continue their familiar World Cup habit of nearly-but-not-quite, going down 2-0 to co-hosts Mexico before Teboho Mokoena’s tearful, grandfather-dedicated penalty rescued a point against Czechia. Bafana Bafana, who have never once escaped a World Cup group stage even as hosts in 2010, face South Korea on 24 June needing victory to avoid extending that unwanted record for another tournament cycle. DR Congo, meanwhile, have quietly held their own, drawing 1-1 with Portugal in their opener and facing Colombia on Tuesday with their fate equally undecided.

The Scorecard, For Those Keeping Count

Standings and fixtures correct as of publication, Monday 22 June 2026. Senegal-Norway and Algeria-Jordan kick off this evening.

The Verdict

Two matches into a punishing new 48-team format, and Africa’s ten representatives have already produced two of the tournament’s outstanding fairy tales, a continental giant rediscovering itself after nearly a century of World Cup futility, a genuine smash-and-grab victim, and — inevitably — one early flight home. Whatever happens from here, this has not been a World Cup in which African football has been content to make up the numbers. The Pharaohs have their swagger back, the Blue Sharks have the world’s attention, and somewhere in Toronto, Ivory Coast are still checking their pockets.