COSAFA sides shine in 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers

The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers played over the last week saw several excellent wins for COSAFA sides as a number remain in contention for qualification for the finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Here is a round-up following the latest fixtures, with the campaign to resume in September.

GROUP C
South Africa head the pool with 13 points from their six games, five ahead of second-placed Rwanda and six in front of Nigeria. Lesotho have six points and Zimbabwe have four. South Africa claimed wins over Lesotho (2-0) and Benin (2-0), while Lesotho also got an excellent 1-1 draw in Rwanda and Zimbabwe drew with Benin (2-2) and Nigeria (1-1).

GROUP D
Angola have seven points from six games and faced a difficult few matches with a draw against Libya (1-1) and a home loss to Cape Verde (1-2). They are six points behind the latter, who lead the table. Mauritius have five points after a loss to Cape Verde (0-1) and a draw with Eswatini. The latter also claimed an excellent 0-0 draw with Cameroon.

GROUP E
Zambia were not in action in this window with the group cut to five teams due to the withdrawal of Eritrea. They have three points from four games, 12 points behind pool leaders Morocco, who have won five from five.

GROUP F
It was a tough couple of matches for Seychelles as they lost 3-0 to Gabon and 5-0 to Burundi. They are yet to get off the mark with six defeats and trail pool leaders Ivory Coast by 16 points.

GROUP G
A mixed bag for Mozambique as they beat Uganda 3-1 but then lost 5-1 to pool leaders Algeria. They have 12 points from six games and trail the latter by three points at the top of the table. Botswana lost 3-1 to Algeria but then beat Somalia 2-0. They have 15 points, six back from Algeria.

GROUP H
Namibia picked up four pints from their two games with an excellent 1-0 win against fellow COSAFA side Malawi and a 1-1 draw with Equatorial Guinea. That leaves them on a healthy 12 points from six games, four behind pool leaders Tunisia. Malawi suffered a pair of defeats, also going down 2-0 to the Tunisians. They have six points in the pool.

GROUP I
Comoros lost 3-0 to Mali but then picked up a 1-0 win over Chad to keep alive their qualification hopes. They have 12 points from six games, three behind pool leaders Ghana. Madagascar beat Central African Republic 4-1 but then lost 3-0 to Ghana. They have 10 points and are by no means out of it.