African Football Roundup: Are the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers a new era for African Football?

Welcome to a special episode of the African football round-up as the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers kick off!Throughout the history of the FIFA World Cup, Africa has often found itself underrepresented. We trace back the journey to guaranteed qualification including the continent boycotting the 1966 FIFA World Cup. We then ask if 9.5 qualifying places is the right number. We think that 9.5 ensures there are enough places for top African sides and doesn’t dilute quality.Finally we recap the first day of qualifying including three David vs Goliath matchups including: Egypt vs Djibouti, Algeria vs Somalia and Nigeria vs Lesotho