Africa teams in World Cup Round of 32: How 9 of 10 African countries reached the knockouts from impressive group stage

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Two-thirds of the 48-team World Cup field reached the knockout stage, but no one had a higher success rate than the Confederation of African Football, or CAF.

The CAF is sending nine of its 10 World Cup teams to the 32-team knockout stage, extending a run of success four years after Morocco became the first African team to reach the World Cup semifinals.

Morocco isn't alone in representing Africa in the knockout stage, but none of the nine African teams actually won a group in the group stage. That means the field could quickly be whittled down by tough matchups in the Round of 32.

Here's a look at how African teams have done so well in this World Cup.

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Africa World Cup record

African teams went 10-10 with 10 draws in the group stage of the World Cup, about as even as possible. In a format that sends two-thirds of teams to the knockout stage, that was enough for nine of 10 African teams to advance.

Here's a full breakdown of each team's record.

Records follow W-L-D format.

TeamRecordResult
Algeria1-1-13rd in Group J
Cape Verde0-0-32nd in Group H
DR Congo1-1-13rd in Group K
Egypt1-0-22nd in Group G
Ghana1-1-13rd in Group L
Ivory Coast2-1-02nd in Group E
Morocco2-0-12nd in Group C
Senegal1-2-03rd in Group I
South Africa1-1-12nd in Group A
Tunisia0-3-04th in Group F

Only Tunisia and Senegal lost more than one group stage match, though Ivory Coast and Morocco were the only two to pick up multiple wins. Cape Verde, meanwhile, advanced with three draws.

MORE: Ranking every team in World Cup knockout stage

African teams in World Cup knockout stage

Nine African teams are headed to the knockout stage:

TeamGroupLast knockout stage appearance
AlgeriaJ2014
Cape VerdeHNever
DR CongoKNever
EgyptGNever
GhanaL2010
Ivory CoastENever
MoroccoC2022
SenegalI2022
South AfricaANever

Five of the nine African teams to advance to the Round of 32 are making their first-ever knockout stage appearance, with the caveat that the knockout stage previously included only 16 teams before expanding to 32 for this year's tournament.

Cape Verde reached the knockout stage in its first-ever World Cup appearance, while Morocco and Senegal are the only two African teams to reach the knockout stage in each of the last two World Cups.

Here's a look at the Round of 32 opponent for each African team.

MORE: Ranking the toughest World Cup knockout draws

Africa World Cup Round of 32 matchups

At least one African team will play on each day of the Round of 32, starting with South Africa's match against Canada on Sunday.

TeamOpponentDate
South AfricaCanadaSun, June 28
MoroccoNetherlandsMon, June 29
Ivory CoastNorwayTue, June 30
DR CongoEnglandWed, July 1
SenegalBelgiumWed, July 1
AlgeriaSwitzerlandThu, July 2
EgyptAustraliaFri, July 3
Cape VerdeArgentinaFri, July 3
GhanaColombiaFri, July 3

Most African teams are underdogs in the Round of 32, with South Africa, Morocco, DR Congo, Senegal, Algeria, Cape Verde and Ghana all facing group winners. 

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