Egypt and Burkina Faso played to a 0-0 draw in Ouagadougou on Tuesday, pushing Egypt ever closer to the 2026 World Cup.
With eight games now played in the African qualifiers and two remaining, Egypt lead Group A with 20 points, followed by Burkina Faso with 15.
Had Egypt beaten Burkina Faso outright, they would have automatically qualified for next year’s World Cup. Instead, Egypt need one point more from their next two qualifiers to secure a place in the finals.
In October, Egypt will play their last two group games, against Djibouti in Djibouti and Guinea-Bissau in Cairo.
Tuesday’s game was lackluster, showing few signs of attacking prowess.
Egypt were dealt an early blow when star forward Omar Marmoush was substituted because of injury in the ninth minute.
In minute 67, Liverpool star Mohamed Salah scored but the referee ruled the Liverpool star offside.
Dango Outtara was left unmarked in the 80th minute, delivering a close-range header, but it sailed over the bar.
Burkina Faso, who typically play their qualifiers in Morocco, opted to host Egypt in Ouagadougou this time, seeking to capitalise on home advantage.
Four days earlier, Egypt had beaten Ethiopia 2-0 in Cairo to put them on the brink of World Cup qualification.
Salah and Omar both converted first-half penalties to secure the points in front of 30,000 fans on Friday.
Salah opened the scoring four minutes before the break after Mahmoud Trezeguet was tripped in the area and Manchester City’s Marmoush then converted from 12 yards in first-half stoppage time after a second spot kick was awarded for handball.
Ethiopia nearly pulled one back in the 82nd minute, only for goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Shenawi to make a crucial reflex stop with his leg from point-blank range.
As of 8 September, 18 teams had qualified for the 2026 World Cup:
Co-hosts: Canada, Mexico, USA
AFC: Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Korea Republic, Japan
CAF: Morocco, Tunisia
CONMEBOL: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
OFC: New Zealand
Jordan and Uzbekistan are making their debut World Cup appearances.
Morocco became the first African nation to qualify for the 2026 World Cup courtesy of a 5-0 drubbing of 10-man Niger in Rabat.
The Atlas Lions, who had made history after they reached the semi-finals of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, knew that three points would be enough to progress from Group E with two games to spare after Tanzania could only draw 1-1 in Congo-Brazzaville earlier on Friday.
Morocco were playing their first match at the redeveloped Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium which will stage the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final next January and be used when Morocco co-hosts the 2030 World Cup.
Tunisia became Africa’s second team to qualify for the World Cup after a late 1-0 victory away to Equatorial Guinea on Monday. The Carthage Eagles will be competing in the World Cup for a seventh time in their history and a third in succession.
Remarkably, Jalel Kadri’s side have still not conceded in qualifying, with a goal difference now 13-0.
Egypt have qualified for the World Cup only three times in their history—1934, 1990 and 2018.
At least nine African nations, winners of each of the nine groups, will automatically qualify for the World Cup. A 10th country from the continent could qualify. The four best runners-up will play in a CAF playoff tournament. The winner of the CAF tournament must take one more step, playing and winning in a FIFA playoff tournament.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be held from 11 June to 19 July 2026, in Canada, Mexico and the United States - in 11 US cities plus three in Mexico and two in Canada. It will mark the first time three nations will co-host the men’s tournament. This 23rd edition of the World Cup will also be the largest in history, featuring an expanded field of 48 national teams from the usual 32 and a total of 104 matches.
The final draw will be held on 5 December 2025 at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. The draw will determine specific match schedule fixtures, including venues and kickoff times for the tournament.
Mexico will become the first nation to host or co-host the men’s tournament three times, having previously hosted in 1970 and 1986.
The US hosted the World Cup in 1994. Canada has never hosted the tournament.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 11 September, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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