North Africa's Harvest in the World Cup: The First Round Smiles on Morocco and Egypt

The first round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers resulted in mixed outcomes for North African teams, with notable draws against teams favored to compete for the title and heavy defeats that placed early pressure on some teams in the race for qualification.

The Moroccan national team was responsible for one of the biggest surprises of the round, as they held the Brazilian team to a 1-1 draw in a strong match where the "Atlas Lions" delivered an outstanding performance. Morocco's goal was scored by Ismail Saibari.

Similarly, the Egyptian national team managed to secure a valuable point against Belgium after a positive draw with the same score (1-1), with Imam Ashour scoring the "Pharaohs'" goal in a match that demonstrated the Egyptian team's ability to compete with one of the top European teams.

On the other hand, the Algerian national team faced the strength of the reigning champion, Argentina, suffering a 3-0 defeat in a match where Lionel Messi established himself as the star of the encounter, scoring his country's goals and leading them to a perfect start in their quest to defend the world title.

As for the Tunisian national team, it suffered the harshest defeat among the regional teams, falling to Sweden with a score of (5-1) in a match where the "Carthage Eagles" struggled defensively, with Omar Rekik scoring the only goal for the Tunisian team.

After the conclusion of the opening round, the Moroccan and Egyptian teams came away with positive impressions after successfully securing two valuable points against formidable opponents. Meanwhile, Algeria and Tunisia are required to quickly rectify their positions in the upcoming matches to maintain their hopes of reaching the second round.

These results confirm that North African teams still have varying chances in the competition, with decisive rounds awaited that could reshape the battle for qualification spots to the knockout stages.