South Africa, Cote d’Ivoire, and Senegal won convincingly on Tuesday to fill the last three automatic places reserved for Africa at the 2026 World Cup.
Senegal were the most impressive winners, hammering Mauritania 4-0, while Cote d’Ivoire beat Kenya 3-0, and South Africa were also 3-0 winners, against Rwanda.
The trio will join Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia at the global showpiece in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Nigeria kept alive hopes of swelling the African representation to 10 nations by finishing as the four best-ranked runners-up.
They will meet in two single-match semi-finals and a final in Morocco during November and the winners advance to inter-continental play-offs in March with two World Cup places up for grabs.
Former Liverpool star Sadio Mane scored just before and after half-time for Group B table-toppers Senegal, with Iliman Ndiaye and Habib Diallo also netting for the Teranga Lions.
Osimhen nets hat-trick as Super Eagles thrash Benin to advance to W/Cup playoffs
Senegal finished with 24 points, two more than DR Congo, who edged Sudan 1-0 in Kinshasa through a Theo Bongonda goal.
Manchester United winger Amad Diallo completed the scoring for Cote d’Ivoire, who led from the seventh minute in a convincing triumph over Kenya in Abidjan.
Franck Kessie put the reigning African champions ahead and Yan Diomande added the second goal soon after half-time.
Cote d’Ivoire topped Group F with 26 points, one more than Gabon. Gambia overwhelmed the Seychelles 7-0 to come third.
Thalente Mbatha and Oswin Appollis scored for South Africa in the first half and Evidence Makgopa sealed victory with a goal midway through the second period in Mbombela.
South Africa topped Group C with 18 points, one more than Nigeria, who hammered third-placed Benin 4-0 in Uyo with Victor Osimhen claiming a hat-trick.
It will be the fourth appearance by South Africa at the global showpiece. They qualified for the 1998 and 2002 tournaments and were automatic participants in 2010 as the host nation.
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