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ROUND 2 REVIEW: Sweet success, and some heartbreak, for Africa in World Cup

football24 June 2026 16:03| © Mzansi Football
By:Mark Gleeson
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The second round of World Cup group play was completed on Tuesday when the Democratic Republic of Congo lost to Colombia in Guadalajara, but overall the first 13 days of the 2026 finals can be deemed a success for Africa.

Only Tunisia are mathematically eliminated as the 10 African representatives now begin the last round of group action from Wednesday through to Saturday, all hoping to advance to the last-32.

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These have been the African heroes and heartbreakers after two rounds of African group games at the tournament in Canada, Mexico, and the United States:

HEROES

Amine Gouiri: The Algeria striker narrowly avoided being offside and cleverly snapped up a half chance in front of goal to complete Algeria’s come-from-behind win against Jordan in San Francisco on Monday, handing ‘Les Fennecs’ their first points of the finals and giving them a good chance of advancing.

Ismael Saibari: The Morocco striker’s goal against Scotland in Boston last Friday was the quickest of the competition to date and set the North Africans on their way to victory and a four-point haul after two Group C matches. It was a rasping shot into the back of the net after 71 seconds.

Mohamed Salah: Egypt finally won a match at the World Cup finals, more than 90 years after their first participation in 1934 as the first-ever African representatives, and talisman Mohammed Salah was among the scorers as they came from behind to beat New Zealand 3-1 in Vancouver.

Helio Varela: An opportunist second goal from the Cape Verde substitute saw the islanders continued their heroics with a 2-2 draw against two-time World Cup winners Uruguay in their second game to add to the point they picked up against Spain in their first game.

HEARTBREAK

Ivory Coast: Ivory Coast coach Emerse Fae blamed inexperience for the Elephants letting a halftime lead slip and allowing Germany to come from behind and beat them 2-1 in Toronto on Saturday. But they should still finish second in Group E if they beat Curacao in their final group fixture in Philadelphia on Thursday.

Kalidou Koulibaly: Senegal’s captain Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly owned up to key mistakes in his side’s loss to Norway on Monday that have left the African side in danger of early elimination. Koulibaly’s slips allowed the Norwegians to win 3-2 leaving Senegal without any points.

Teboho Mokoena: A second caution in as many games against the Czech Republic in Bafana Bafana’s second Group A fixture in Atlanta last Thursday means the 29-year-old sits out the key final group fixture against South Korea, which is a must-win if South Africa are to avoid an early trip home.

Herve Renard: The Frenchman has won two Africa Cup of Nations titles and, at the last World Cup was in charge when Saudi Arabia beat Argentina, but he was not able to turn around Tunisia’s fortunes in their 4-0 defeat to Japan after being flown in to take over from Sabri Lamouchi.

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