African teams at World Cup 2026 are doing fine. DR Congo drew 1-1 with Portugal on Wednesday, June 17 to kickstart their campaign on a great note.
Earlier, Cape Verde had held European champions Spain to a goalless draw in their first match of the tournament. Then Egypt drew 1-1 with Belgium to mark another success for African teams at World Cup 2026.
African Teams at World Cup 2026 Are Bolstered by Good Defence
The African teams at World Cup 2026 are strengthened by their strong defence. DR Congo demonstrated that successfully against a strong Portuguese attack and midfield by playing a five-man defence.
Portugal struggled to register shots on target after having scored their first goal in the sixth minute. DR Congo’s defence struggled to deal with the crosses sent in by Pedro Neto and Joao Cancelo from the left and right flanks, respectively, but managed to get their act together and contain the Portuguese largely.
Francisco Conceicao entered the scene in the second half and troubled the Congolese defence through the inside-right channel repeatedly. But Congo managed to give him some extra attention and thereby nullified the threat.
The same happened in the match between Spain and Cape Verde, as the latter first dealt with an overlapping Marc Cucurella well and then kept their centre-backs in place to negotiate with the crosses sent into the box by the Spaniards.
It was not pretty football by either Cape Verde or Congo, though the latter showed some attacking intent as well by playing with a 5-3-2 and Yoane Wissa troubling the Portuguese centre-backs a lot.
Egypt, in comparison, were a lot more aggressive and went toe-to-toe with Belgium in their match. Still, the Egyptian defence were adept at dealing with the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Jeremy Doku.
Morocco’s Draw With Brazil: Attacking Football
Among the African teams at World Cup 2026, Morocco displayed lots of attacking flair in their 1-1 draw with Brazil. In fact, the Moroccans dominated the initial 25-30 minutes of the match, scoring their goal in the process.
There have been some stand-out players for the African teams at World Cup 2026 as well.
Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha became a sensation by stopping a plethora of Spanish attacks, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka, the former Manchester United right-back from DR Congo, had a tasty battle with Pedro Neto.
Then there was the battle between Achraf Hakimi and Vinicius Junior, which was one of the best one-on-one battles seen in the tournament so far.
Some African Teams Should Make It to the Round of 32
South Africa, Tunisia and Algeria have had sub-par starts to their World Cup campaign, losing their respective first matches. However, they will still harbour the ambition of turning things around in their next two group matches.
As of now, the African teams at World Cup 2026 have had a mixed bag. However, their defences have mostly stood out and have been a source of predicament for a few of the heavyweights.
It now remains to be seen how the tournament pans out for those teams.
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