History Made As Nine African Nations Crash The Round of 32 | News

A record-breaking contingent of African nations secured their places in the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup, with nine out of the continent’s 10 representatives advancing to the round of 32.

The achievement follows a dramatic Saturday night that saw the Democratic Republic of Congo secure a 3-1 victory against Uzbekistan in Atlanta and Algeria battle to a 3-3 draw against Austria. With those results, the two teams join Morocco, South Africa, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cape Verde, and Egypt in the next round.

The tournament marks a massive shift from previous iterations of the global competition. Before this cycle, the most African nations to advance past the group stage in a single tournament was two, a feat accomplished in 2014 and 2022. Only six African countries had ever reached the knockout rounds in the tournament’s history.

The expansion to a historic 10 African qualifiers for this tournament highlighted the region’s depth, with surprise packages Cape Verde and Congo demonstrating that growth.

Congo had to fight back from an early deficit after Eldor Shomurodov scored for Uzbekistan in the 10th minute. Forward Yoane Wissa initiated the turnaround by converting a penalty kick in the 68th minute. Substitute Fiston Mayele gave Congo the lead 10 minutes later before Wissa sealed the victory with a second goal during stoppage time.

“It’s really historic for our country,” Mayele said after the match. “It’s the first win and the first knockout stage. Today, I have to be proud here, and almost everywhere in my country, everyone is happy with what we did. We’re proud to be Congolese, and I think we will keep going.”

Congo faces a challenging round-of-32 fixture against England, but the team is taking time to appreciate the milestone. Wissa noted that the accomplishment reflects a multiyear process for the current squad.

“It’s only the second time we are in the World Cup, 52 years later,” Wissa said. “We started to qualify for the World Cup four years ago with this group. First game against Portugal, you drawed. You lost against Colombia. Now you’re losing one-nil after 10 minutes, so yeah, nothing is easy in football. We just need to show resilience, and when a time like this comes, you have to enjoy, because it’s not easy.”

Wissa added that the integration of young talent like Noah Sadiki and Ngal’ayel Mukau gives the federation reason to maintain high ambitions for the future.

Algeria advanced in equally dramatic fashion against Austria. Trailing in stoppage time, captain Riyad Mahrez scored a go-ahead goal to make it 3-2. Austria responded with an equalizer on the final play of the match, but the 3-3 draw gave Algeria the point needed to advance.

Morocco, which became the first African nation to reach a World Cup semifinal four years ago in Qatar, remains a strong contender after a 1-1 draw against Brazil earlier in the group stage. The country is scheduled to co-host the 2030 tournament.