Who Has Qualified for the 2022 World Cup?

How it qualified Twice in seven weeks, Senegal and Egypt could not be separated. First, in February, the African Cup of Nations final went to penalties. Then, after narrow home wins in Cairo and Dakar, so did their World Cup playoff. On both occasions, Egypt stuttered, and Sadio Mané did not, turning his country into continental champion and earning it a place at the World Cup.

What can we expect in 2022? Senegal may well be the best-equipped team Africa has sent to the World Cup since the Ivory Coast’s golden generation in 2014. In Mané, it has one of the world’s best players, and around him are a clutch of mainstays of Europe’s best and brightest teams: Edouard Mendy, Idrissa Gueye, Kalidou Koulibaly. Aliou Cissé’s team may need a bit of help in the draw, but it will be aiming for the knockout rounds at the very least.

Morocco

How it qualified Vahid Halilhodzic is good at qualifying. The Bosnian coach has taken three countries to the last three World Cups — Ivory Coast, Algeria and Japan — and there was rarely any doubt that he would repeat the trick with Morocco. It won six of six in its qualifying group, and then comfortably dispatched the Democratic Republic of Congo in a playoff. No other African team has made it look quite so easy.