World Cup Qualifiers: From Shock Results to Star Performances: Five Key Takeaways from Matchday Six in Africa

• Salah Leads the Race – Mohamed Salah tops the scoring charts with six goals, helping Egypt stay on course for qualification.
• Unpredictable Group C – Nigeria struggles with surprise setbacks, including draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe and a defeat to Benin.
• Morocco’s Perfect Run – The Atlas Lions remain unbeaten with five wins, the only team with a flawless record so far.

Salah Leads the Scoring Charts

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah continues his goal-scoring dominance in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, netting six times for Egypt. The 32-year-old started strong with four goals in a 6-0 win against Djibouti and later scored in away fixtures against Guinea-Bissau and Ethiopia.

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Algerian forward Mohamed Amoura, who scored a hat-trick in Algeria’s 5-1 victory over Mozambique, shares second place with five others at five goals each.

Surprising Results in Group C

Group C, featuring South Africa, Rwanda, Benin, Nigeria, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe, has been full of unexpected outcomes.

Lesotho secured a draw against Nigeria.

Rwanda adapted better to wet conditions to defeat South Africa.

Benin staged a comeback to beat Nigeria.

Zimbabwe’s Tawanda Chirewa scored a late equalizer against Nigeria, ending the match 1-1.

Most Common Scorelines

The most frequent result across the first six matchdays was 1-0, occurring in 33 of 151 matches. Other common scorelines included:

2-1 and 2-0 (21 matches each)

1-1 draws (19 matches)

0-0 stalemates (15 matches)

Lopsided victories were rare, with just three 5-0 wins, two 6-0 results, and two 5-1 scorelines. The biggest victory came from Ivory Coast, which demolished Seychelles 9-0.

Top Seeds Holding Strong

Top-seeded teams Egypt, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Algeria, and Tunisia currently lead their respective groups with four matches remaining.

Cameroon and Senegal sit in second place, trailing Cape Verde and DR Congo by a single point.

Mali and Nigeria are struggling, both sitting in fourth place, six points behind their group leaders, Ghana and South Africa.

Morocco’s Perfect Record

2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco remain the only team with a perfect record, winning all five of their matches so far:

Defeated Tanzania twice (2-0)

Overcame Zambia (2-1)

Crushed Congo Brazzaville (6-0)

Beat Niger (2-1)

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Morocco benefited from hosting both the Congo and Niger fixtures, as their opponents lacked FIFA-approved stadiums.

With four matchdays left in September and October, the battle for World Cup spots remains intense.

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