Africa’s 2026 World Cup qualifying window continued Round 8 matches with decisive results across five groups inclduing Kenya’s 5-0 hammering of Seychelles and shock away wins for Niger and Rwanda.
Morocco and Tunisia have already booked their ticket to the 2026 finals, but the scrap for the remaining automatic places — and the four best runners-up spots for the play-off — remains fierce.
Group F — Kenya 5–0 Seychelles: Stars run riot to revive outside hopes
Kenya blew away Seychelles in Nairobi to record their biggest win of the campaign and keep themselves in the conversation behind the front two.
Ryan Ogam set the tone with a sharp finish inside seven minutes before centre-back Charles Sichenje doubled the lead on 35 minutes from a set piece.
Ogam struck again three minutes later and Michael Olunga converted a penalty in first-half added time to make it four at the break. Olunga swept in a fifth on 67 minutes to cap a dominant display.
The result lifts Kenya to nine points from eight matches. They remain behind leaders Côte d’Ivoire on 19 and second-placed Gabon on 18, but the margin to third-placed Burundi (10) narrows with two fixtures to come in March.
Seychelles remain winless. For Kenya, the manner of victory — clean sheet, clinical finishing and control — gives Benni McCarthy’s side a dose of momentum ahead of a daunting finish that will likely require perfection and help elsewhere.
Scorers: Ogam 7, 38; Sichenje 35; Olunga 45+5 (pen), 67
Group H — Namibia 3–0 São Tomé and PrÃncipe: Shalulile hat-trick cements second
Peter Shalulile’s first World Cup qualifying hat-trick powered Namibia past São Tomé and PrÃncipe and kept the Brave Warriors in the runners-up slot behind Tunisia.
The Mamelodi Sundowns forward broke the deadlock on 41 minutes and added a second midway through the half after the restart, before completing his treble with a deft finish on 71 minutes.
With Tunisia clear at the summit after sealing World Cup qualification, Namibia’s victory was about building separation in the chase pack.
They sit second on 12 points after eight matches, one ahead of Liberia (11) and two clear of Equatorial Guinea (10), with Malawi on nine.
São Tomé remain without a point. Collin Benjamin’s side will feel the job for a play-off push is firmly alive, especially with a proven scorer in form and a defence that comfortably handled the visitors.
Scorers: Shalulile 41, 66, 71.
Group A — Sierra Leone 2–0 Ethiopia: Leone Stars tighten grip on third
Sierra Leone climbed to 12 points and strengthened their hold on third with a composed win over Ethiopia.
Musa Noah Kamara broke through eight minutes before the interval, turning in Saidu Tarawallie’s cross to settle home nerves. In added time, Alhassan Koroma finished a late break to seal the points.
The Leone Stars now trail second-placed Burkina Faso by two points and leaders Egypt by seven with two games to play. For Ethiopia, defeat leaves them on six points and facing a steep climb to reach the runners-up discussion.
Mohammed Kallon’s men have built their revival on defensive discipline — three straight matches without conceding — and they will need that platform again in a closing run-in that still offers a mathematical route to the play-off bracket.
Scorers: Kamara 37; Koroma 90+3.
Group E — Tanzania 0–1 Niger: Ménas spring away-day shock as Atlas Lions stretch clear
Niger produced the upset of the day in Dar es Salaam, pinching a 1–0 win that dents Tanzania’s grip on second.
Forward Issa Sosah settled a tight contest on 58 minutes, timing his run to meet a low cross and finish at the near post.
From there, Niger sat in a compact block and guarded their box, surviving late pressure and a flurry of set pieces.
The defeat stalls Tanzania on 10 points, leaving them with work to do in the final window to secure the section’s runners-up position.
Niger surge to nine points from six outings and, crucially, still have a game in hand on the Taifa Stars.
Morocco, already qualified, underlined their dominance earlier in the window and have since moved to 21 points after a 2–0 win in Zambia; the rest are now contesting positioning only.
Zambia, on six points, also face a chase with little margin for error.
Scorer: Sosah 58.
Group C — Zimbabwe 0–1 Rwanda: Amavubi nick it to keep quarter-turn on leaders
Rwanda claimed a valuable away victory to move level on points with second-placed Benin and keep South Africa within sight.
Gil Mugisha pounced five minutes before the break, steering home from close range after a rapid transition.
The visitors then defended stoutly, with Fiacre Ntwari’s back line managing the late aerial bombardment.
The win takes Rwanda to 11 points, level with Benin but behind on goal difference, and one ahead of Nigeria on 10 after the Super Eagles’ weekend defeat of Rwanda.
South Africa remain in control on 16, yet the battle beneath them has tightened markedly. Zimbabwe stay bottom on four points, ruing missed chances in a second half they largely controlled.
Scorer: Mugisha 40.
Senegal tops Group B
The high-stakes showdown between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Senegal, part of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, ended in a dramatic 3-2 victory for Senegal.
Following this setback, the Leopards have lost their top spot in Group B and now sit in second place, having collected 16 points from five wins and a single draw.
Meanwhile, the Lions have surged to the top of their group, amassing 18 points with a record of five wins and three draws.
Eqypt misses chance to seal World Cup spot
Egypt missed the chance to qualify for the 2026 Fifa World Cup by drawing 0-0 in Burkina Faso, where victory would have sealed the Pharaohs’ progress with two games left to play.
Bidding to join North African rivals Morocco and Tunisia in qualifying early for the finals, Egypt thought they had broken the deadlock in a tight game after 66 minutes only for Osama Faisal’s goal to be ruled offside.
In a game of few chances in the Burkinabe capital Ouagadougou, the substitute swept home captain and Liverpool star Mohamed Salah’s knockdown only for the flag to instantly rise.
Egypt’s hopes were hampered by an early injury to Omar Marmoush, which will worry Manchester City with the forward hobbling off after just nine minutes and a Manchester derby in the Premier League next for his club on Sunday.
Both Marmoush and Salah, who had one of his quieter games, had scored first-half penalties on Friday as Egypt beat Ethiopia 2-0 in Cairo to set up the chance to qualify against the Burkinabe but the Pharaohs seldom threatened from open play once again.
In fact, they failed to score for the first time in Group A despite fielding both Salah and Trezeguet, who have scored 12 of Egypt’s 16 qualifying goals, with the former Aston Villa man registering the game’s only two shots on target.
Burkina Faso cling on to slender hopes
After keeping their hopes of reaching a first World Cup alive, the Stallions – the only side that can stop Egypt from qualifying outright – remain five points behind the group leaders.
Playing at home for the first time in this qualifying campaign following the refurbishment of their national stadium, Burkina Faso went close from headers in each half – with Edmond Tapsoba bouncing one just over in the first half, before Dango Ouattara also failed to hit the target late on.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan had hoped to celebrate qualification in a stadium where he has fine memories, having captained the Pharaohs to Africa Cup of Nations glory there in 1998, but instead he saw his side drop points for only the second time in the group.
Burkina Faso must beat Sierra Leone and Ethiopia next month to have any chance of qualifying for the World Cup outright, but this scenario appears slim given that Egypt would also need to lose against two of the group’s bottom three sides, Djibouti and Guinea-Bissau.
Despite winning a record seven Africa Cup of Nations titles, Egypt have struggled to replicate their continental form in World Cup qualifying over the years – having appeared at football’s greatest event on just three occasions, in 1934, 1990 and 2018.
