World Cup qualification Africa
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Thanks to a four-pack from former Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the Gabon national team kept its chance of direct World Cup qualification. Aubameyang scored all the goals for his team in the 4:3 (2:2) win against Gambia in Nairobi. The 36-year-old from Olympique Marseille also saw a yellow-red card in the 85th minute on a crazy football afternoon.
This means Aubameyang will miss the final qualifying game against Burundi. Gabon remains in second place in its group, one point behind Ivory Coast, which won 7-0 (4-0) at bottom team Seychelles with no points.
Attacker Nicolas Jackson from FC Bayern and ex-Munich player Sadio Mané defended first place in their season ahead of the Democratic Republic of Congo with Senegal thanks to a 5-0 (1-0) win in South Sudan. They are two points ahead of their last game against Mauritania. Bayern’s new signing Jackson scored a penalty to make it 4-0 after an hour and was substituted shortly afterwards. Mané also contributed a goal.
28 places still available for the 2026 World Cup
So far, 20 teams have qualified for the finals, which are being held for the first time with 48 teams. The three hosts USA, Canada and Mexico are automatically there.
Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea and Uzbekistan made it into Asia’s elimination. So far, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia have been included from Africa. Defending champions Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay come from South America. New Zealand has bought the ticket in Oceania.