South Africa booked their place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup by topping Group C, overcoming a points deduction, while Nigeria secured a path forward via the African play-offs.
In Mbombela, South Africa defeated Rwanda 3–0 to clinch top spot in their group. Thalente Mbatha opened the scoring in the fifth minute, Oswin Appollis added a second before halftime, and Evidence Makgopa sealed the win with a 72nd-minute header.
That victory came even after South Africa had earlier been docked three points by FIFA for fielding an ineligible player. The ruling, applied to their match against Lesotho, saw their 2–0 win overturned to a 3–0 defeat.
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Their return to the World Cup finals marks their first appearance since hosting the event in 2010. Despite the euphoria of being present and also hosting the event in 2010, Bafana Bafana failed to progress beyond the group stage, and the years that followed were filled with inconsistency, making them absent in 2014, 2018, and 2022 editions.
Meanwhile in Uyo, Nigeria staged a dramatic 4–0 win over Benin, a result that knocked Benin out of contention. Victor Osimhen bagged a hat-trick, converting early and then adding two more, the final one a diving header off a Moses Simon free kick.
Frank Onyeka added a late volley in stoppage time to round off the scoreline. That win elevated Nigeria to 17 points, tied with Benin, but with a superior goal difference, earning them a spot among the best runners-up heading to the CAF play-offs. Benin had tried to keep up but failed against Nigeria who have had the record of getting better results on the last day of their qualifies.
Africa’s automatic qualifiers: South Africa joins Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, and Cape Verde as the seven African teams that qualified directly for the 48-team World Cup.
The Super Eagles will now prepare for the next stage of African qualifying. As one of the top runners-up, they enter a play-off phase. The winner among these play-off matches will then advance to the inter-confederation play-offs in March after which they’d get a chance to play in the World Cup.
