Algeria end 12-year-long wait with 2026 World Cup berth

New Delhi: Algeria became the fourth African nation to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026 after sealing their berth at next year’s finals in North America with a convincing 3-0 win over Somalia in Oran, Algeria.

The top team in each of the nine African groups qualifies directly for the global showpiece event in Canada, Mexico and the U.S., as Algeria joined the already qualified Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.

The four best runners-up across all the groups will advance to a playoff in November for a potential additional slot for Africa at the 2026 World Cup.

The comfortable win moved Algeria to an unassailable 22 points with one match still to go in Group G.

Mohamed Amoura took his tally in the qualifying campaign to eight with a brace, while captain Riyad Mahrez also found the net as Algeria ended a 12-year-long wait for WC qualification.

It will be Algeria's fifth World Cup appearance and the first since the 2014 edition in Brazil, where they famously beat South Korea and drew with Russia before crashing out after a heartbreaking extra-time loss to Germany in the last 16.

Amoura gave Algeria a perfect start with a seventh-minute goal when Mahrez's cross inadvertently found the Wolfsburg striker unmarked at the back post to convert.

Former Manchester City winger Mahrez extended the advantage 12 minutes later while Amoura bagged his second, slotting home from a Mahrez cross, in the 57th minute.

Though it was a home game for Somalia, it was hosted in Oran due to a lack of a suitable venue in Somalia, giving Algeria a chance to celebrate the win and the World Cup qualification in front of a packed house at Stade Miloud Hadefi.

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Elsewhere, Uganda cemented second spot in the group with a 1-0 win in Botswana. The win took Uganda three points clear of Mozambique, who lost at home to Guinea.

Meanwhile, Namibia’s chances of sealing one of the playoff berths suffered a massive blow with a 1-3 loss away to Liberia.