Association football is the most popular sport in nearly every African country, and fourteen members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) have competed at the sport's biggest event – the FIFA World Cup. The highest ranked result in the World Cup for an African team is fourth place in the 2022 tournament by Morocco. CAF countries have hosted the finals once.

Overview 1930 (13) 1934 (16) 1938 (15) 1950 (13) 1954 (16) 1958 (16) 1962 (16) 1966 (16) 1970 (16) 1974 (16) 1978 (16) 1982 (24) 1986 (24) 1990 (24) 1994 (24) 1998 (32) 2002 (32) 2006 (32) 2010 (32) 2014 (32) 2018 (32) 2022 (32) 2026 (48) 2030 (48) 2034 (48) Total Teams 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 59 Top 32 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 9 9 Top 16 — — — — — — — — — — — 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 0 2 2 13 Top 8 — 0 0 — 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 5 Top 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 Top 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1st 0 2nd 0 3rd 0 4th 1

Country No. Years Best result 8 1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014, 2022 QF 7 1970, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2018, 2022, 20264th 1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, 2022, 2026 GS 6 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014, 2018 R16 5 1982, 1986, 2010, 2014, 2026 R16 2006, 2010, 2014, 2022, 2026 QF 4 1934, 1990, 2018, 2026 R16 1998, 2002, 2010, 2026 R32 2002, 2018, 2022, 2026 QF 2006, 2010, 2014, 2026 R32 2 1974, 2026 R32 1 2006 GS 2006 GS 2026 R32 Bold indicates year(s) of best finish

Results

Tournament standings

Team Champions Final Semi-finals Quarter-finals Round of 16 Round of 32 0 0 1 2 3 1 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

Team results by tournament

The team ranking in each tournament is according to FIFA. The rankings, apart from the top four positions (top two in 1930), are not a result of direct competition between the teams; instead, teams eliminated in the same round are ranked by their full results in the tournament.

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

+FIFA World Cup results of CAF members Team1930(13)1934(16)1938(15)1950(13)1954(16)1958(16)1962(16)1966(16)1970(16)1974(16)1978(16)1982(24)1986(24)1990(24)1994(24)1998(32)2002(32)2006(32)2010(32)2014(32)2018(32)2022(32)2026(48)2030(48)2034(48)TotalQual.Comp. colspan=7 ו•• GS1 GS ••••• GS R16 •• R32 TBDTBD 5 15 colspan=11 ••••• GS •••••TBDTBD 1 11 colspan=7 ו•• GS1 •QF GS GS GS • GS GS • GS •TBDTBD 8 15 colspan=12 •••••• R32 TBDTBD 1 7 colspan=7 × GS1 ו•••••••••• R32 TBDTBD 2 13 •• R16 × •××× •••• GS •••••• GS • R16 TBDTBD 4 16 colspan=6 •×•••×••••• R16 QF GS • GS R32 TBDTBD 5 15 colspan=7 •• ••••• GS GS GS •• R32 TBDTBD 4 13 colspan=6 •× GS ••• R16 • GS GS •••• GS 4th QF QTBD 8 16 colspan=6 •×•••••• R16 R16 GS • GS R16 GS ••TBDTBD 6 16 colspan=7 ו•••• ••QF ••• GS R16 R32 TBDTBD 4 14 colspan=7 ×colspan=6 • GS GS •GS ••• R32 TBDTBD 4 9 colspan=7 •••×ו•• GS •••••TBDTBD 1 12 colspan=6 •×•• GS1 •••• GS GS GS •• GS GS GS TBDTBD 7 16

Legend

1stChampions2ndRunners-up3rdThird place4thFourth placeQFQuarter-finals (1934–1938, 1954–1970, 1986–present)R16Knockout round of 16 (1934–1938, 1986–present)R32Knockout round of 32 (2026–present)GSGroup stage (1930, 1950–1970, 1986–present)GS1First group stage (1974–1982)GS2Second group stage (1974–1982)

QQualified for upcoming tournamentTBDTo be determined (may still qualify for upcoming tournament)••Qualified but withdrew•Did not qualify•×Withdrew or disqualified during qualification (after playing matches)×Withdrew before qualification / Banned / Entry not accepted by FIFAHostsDid not enterstyle="width:10px" Not a FIFA member

Overall team records As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. 3 points per win, 1 point per draw and 0 points per loss.

Team 72989123033−33382658132247−27235196492026−622416637262602162163122330−72141351718180165174491828−10164133551320−71472135131638−22144121561319−6827115519−1441403145−131302112−121300316−50

Breakdown of successor team records

+ Breakdown Team 13003014−140 141125504

Appearances

Ranking of teams by number of appearances TeamAppearancesRecord streakActive streakDebutMost recentBest result 8 4 0 1982 2022 (1990) 7 4 4 1970 2026 (2022) 7 3 3 1978 2026 6 3 0 1994 2018 (1994, 1998, 2014) 5 2 1 1982 2026 (2014) 5 3 2 2006 2026 (2010) 4 1 1 1934 2026 (2026) 4 2 1 1998 2026 (2026) 4 3 1 2006 2026 (2026) 4 3 3 2002 2026 (2002) 2 1 1 1974 2026 (2026) 1 1 0 2006 2006 1 1 0 2006 2006 1 1 1 2026 2026 (2026)

Team debuts

Year Debutants Total 1934 1 1970 1 1974 1 1978 1 1982 2 1994 1 1998 1 2002 1 2006 42026 1Total 14

Not qualified 40 of the 54 active FIFA and CAF members have never qualified for the final tournament.

Country Number of qualifyingattempts 1930 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 2030 2034 15 colspan=7 •••••••••••••••TBDTBD 14 colspan=4 וו•••• • •••×••••TBDTBD 14 colspan=6 ×ו•••••••×••••••TBDTBD 14 colspan=6 ••••••••••••••TBDTBD 14 colspan=3 •××ו•×•••×••••••••TBDTBD 12 colspan=7 × ••••×••••••••TBDTBD 12 colspan=7 ו ••×••×× •••••••TBDTBD 12 colspan=8 ••••×••••••••TBDTBD 12 colspan=7 •••• ו•••••••TBDTBD 12 colspan=7 •×•• •×••••••••TBDTBD 12 rowspan=2 colspan=6 • •••••••••×••TBDTBD member of AFC 11 colspan=7 × •• •••••••••TBDTBD 11 colspan=7 × •• •••••••••TBDTBD 11 colspan=6 •×••×••••••••TBDTBD 10 colspan=7 • • • •••••••TBDTBD 10 colspan=7 • •×••••••••TBDTBD 10 colspan=7 × × ••••••••••TBDTBD 10 colspan=8 •• ו•••••••TBDTBD 10 colspan=11 • ו••••••••TBDTBD 9 colspan=7 • •×× •••••••TBDTBD 9 colspan=7 • •× ••••×•••TBDTBD 9 colspan=14 •••••••••TBDTBD 9 colspan=7 ••× •× ••••••TBDTBD 9 colspan=11 •••••••••TBDTBD 8 colspan=11 • •••••••TBDTBD 8 colspan=9 ••×ו•••••TBDTBD 8 colspan=13 ••••••••TBDTBD 8 colspan=7 ×ו×××ו•••×•••TBDTBD 8 colspan=11 × ••••••••TBDTBD 8 colspan=7 • •••••••TBDTBD 7 colspan=12 •••••••TBDTBD 7 colspan=13 •••••••TBDTBD 7 colspan=13 •••••••TBDTBD 7 colspan=7 × ×ו••••••TBDTBD 6 colspan=13 × ••×••••TBDTBD 6 colspan=15 • •••••TBDTBD 5 colspan=4 colspan=10 colspan=2 ••×•••×TBDTBD 5 colspan=7 ×× •×ו•••TBDTBD 5 colspan=18 •••••TBDTBD 3 colspan=19 •••TBDTBD

Legend TBDTo be determined (may still qualify for upcoming tournament)•Did not qualify•×Withdrew or disqualified during qualification (after playing matches)×Withdrew before qualification / Banned / Entry not accepted by FIFADid not enterstyle="width:10px" Not a FIFA member

Summary of performance This table shows for each world cup the number of countries at the World Cup, the number of entries (#E) from around the world (including any rejections and withdrawals), the number of African entries (#A), how many of those African entries withdrew (#A-) before/during qualification or were rejected by FIFA, the African representatives at the World Cup finals, the number of World Cup Qualifiers each African representative had to play to get to the World Cup (#WCQ), the furthest stage they reached, their results, and their coaches.