Elephants, Pharaohs & Lions of Teranga continue their WC pursuit

The finish line is very near, the 2026 FIFA World Cup tickets are within reach, they can almost smell the scent of victory, but the job isn't done yet.

Ivory Coast, Egypt, and Senegal will today (22.00) continue their pursuit of the World Cup, trying to improve their situation further and live up to the role of favourites.

The Elephants are genuinely close to the USA, Canada, and Mexico. A win over Burundi could bring them back to the top of Group F and almost secure their success. Yes, the difference between them and Gabon is just a point or two, but even if the Ivory Coast ended second in the group, they'd qualify for the World Cup as one of the two best second-place teams.

Luck for Cameroon and United - Mbeumo is on fire!

On the other hand, an eventual defeat to the Swallows could complicate their situation, but that's the outcome no one in Abidjan is thinking about. As usual, Franck Kessie, Nicolas Pepe, Sebastian Haller, Simon Adingra, and Amad Diallo will be Emerse Fae's crew's biggest strength.

Egypt's situation is even better than the Ivory Coast's. The Pharaohs top their qualifying group, sitting five points ahead of Burkina Faso. If they beat the minnows Ethiopia tonight and the Stallions lose to Djibouti on the road (19.00), they'll need just a single point in the last three rounds to secure their second World Cup participation in this century.

The Pharaoh's Premier League duo of Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and Man City's Omar Marmoush will be in charge of finding the net against Ethiopia's sturdy defence, which conceded just seven goals in six qualifying games.

Finally, Senegal will have the toughest job of the three teams. In a derby clash, the Lions of Teranga will host Sudan, with which they are tied in Group B, while DR Congo sit one point ahead.

The Congolese play much earlier today (15.00) against South Sudan on the road, and if they justify being the favourites and win, they'll put additional pressure on Senegal, given that the eventual defeat to the direct rivals for the top of the group, Sudan, could be a disaster for the Lions of Teranga.

Aware that his team doesn't have room for error, the manager Pape Thiaw opted for the squad as powerful as it gets, with Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, the Premier League trio of Pape Matar Sarr, Iliman Ndiaye, and Ismaila Sarr, and the former and new Bayern Munich forwards, Sadio Mane and Nicolas Jackson.

Still, Sudan won't give up easily, especially now that they have a realistic chance of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in their history. After all, they managed to salvage a goalless draw in the two teams' first qualifying match last March, and that gives them tons of confidence ahead of tonight's game.

2026 FIFA WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS - AFRICA

Wednesday

Seychelles - Gabon 0-4 (0-3)

/Bouanga 4, 34, 38, M'Bemba 89/

Thursday

Chad - Ghana 1-1 (0-1)

/Ecua 89 - Ayew 18/

Angola - Libya 0-1 (0-0)

/Al Mariami 48/

Guinea Bissau - Sierra Leone 1-1 (0-1)

/Balde 74 - Kamara 45+1/

Madagascar - Central African Republic 2-0 (1-0)

/Caddy 45+2,  Randrianantenaina 59/

Mauritius - Cape Verde 0-2 (0-1)

/Cabral 22, Borges 70/

Sao Tome - Equatorial Guinea 2-3 (2-0)

/Afonso 8 pen, 42 pen - Ganet 52, Salvador 61, Nabil 69/

Algeria - Botswana 3-1 (1-1)

/Amoura 33,  Bounedjah 71, 90+6 - Kopelang 43/

Cameroon - Eswatini 3-0 (3-0)

/Gamedze 6 (og), N'Koudou 25, Ebong 28/

Mali - Comoros 3-0 (1-0)

/Dorgeles 28, Doumbia 70 pen, Coulibaly 76/

Tunisia - Liberia 3-0 (1-0)

/Mastouri 5, Sassi 66, Saad 90+4/

Friday

15.00: (15.0) Somalia (5.90) Guinea (1.23)

16.00: (9.00) South Sudan (4.40) DR Congo (1.40)

16.00: (2.65) Kenya (3.05) Gambia (2.90)

16.00: (2.30) Namibia (2.75) Malawi (3.50)

19.00: (1.85) Benin (3.45) Zimbabwe (4.50)

19.00: (22.0) Djibouti (10.5) Burkina Faso (1.10)

19.00: (8.00) Lesotho (4.20) South Africa (1.45)

19.00: (3.45) Congo (3.15) Tanzania (2.25)

19.00: (1.90) Uganda (3.35) Mozambique (4.40)

22.00: (1.20) Egypt (6.50) Ethiopia (16.0)

22.00: (1.17) Ivory Coast (7.25) Burundi (17.0)

22.00: (3.00) Mauritania (3.05) Togo (2.55)

22.00: (1.10) Morocco (11.0) Niger (18.0)

22.00: (1.30) Senegal (5.20) Sudan (11.0)

Saturday

19.00: (1.37) Nigeria (4.50) Rwanda (10.00)

***odds are subject to change***