Algeria books place at 2026 World Cup

On Oct. 9, the Algeria national football team defeated Somalia 3-0 as visitors, with goals from Mohamed Amoura (7’) and Riyad Mahrez (19’), securing its spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup and marking the fifth successful qualification for the team.

More African national teams are on their way to the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The first to qualify were Morocco and Tunisia. On Oct. 8, Egypt secured its place after a 3-0 win over Djibouti, in a similar fashion to Algeria — against a group outsider.

The brace for Algeria was scored by Mohamed Amoura, forward for German club VfL Wolfsburg, with the third goal coming from Riyad Mahrez of Al-Ahli Saudi FC, the national team’s captain.

Thanks to this victory, Algeria has secured first place in CAF Group G, putting them out of reach of Uganda one round before the end of the qualifiers. Uganda will now compete with Mozambique for the second place.

As per the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying process for the Africa Zone, the nine group winners will secure direct spots in the tournament. Currently, four teams have qualified, with the remaining five to be determined by Oct. 15. The four best runners-up will compete in a second-round playoff consisting of two one-off semi-finals, followed by a final. The winner of this playoff will advance to the intercontinental playoffs.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. It will be the first edition featuring 48 national teams representing six confederations.

The participation quotas are as follows: 16 for Europe, 9.5 for Africa, 8.5 for Asia, 6.5 each for CONMEBOL and CONCACAF, and 1.5 for Oceania. The decimals indicate spots allocated through intercontinental playoffs.

As of today, 20 participants are confirmed: Australia, Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Canada, Colombia, Morocco, Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Uruguay, the U.S., Ecuador, South Korea and Japan.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw is scheduled for Dec. 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C.

Previously, FIFA unveiled the official ball and mascots for the tournament.