Tunisian tornado

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane scored in added time to give Tunisia a 1-0 win in Equatorial Guinea on Monday and qualification for the 2026 World Cup in North America.

Victory for Tunisia gave them an unassailable lead in Group H, and they became the second African nation to secure a place at the tournament after 2022 semifinalists Morocco.

Tunisia has 22 points from eight games, 10 more than second-placed Namibia, who have one match in hand but cannot match the total of the Carthage Eagles.

Substitute Ben Romdhane, a midfielder with Egyptian and African giants Al Ahly, struck in the 94th minute after being set up by Firas Chaouat.

He also scored the only goal, from a penalty, when Tunisia beat Equatorial Guinea in matchday 3 last year.

“When Firas Chaouat received the ball in the final moments, I knew he was going to get the better of the Equatorial Guinean player,” Ben Romdhane told Tunisian TV.

“So I moved forward and put myself in a good position to score,” added the 26-year-old, who joined Ahly this year from Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros.

“It was the toughest match of the qualifiers, and we expected it given the conditions, the pitch, and the humidity,” fellow midfielder Ferjani Sassi said.

“We knew how to adapt to the circumstances. They had many chances, but we were ready. We believed in ourselves until the very end.”

Tunisia started the match in Malabo with players based on nine countries, including Hannibal Mejbri from Premier League side Burnley.

The Eagles are coached by former center-back Sami Trabelsi, who captained Tunisia at the 1998 World Cup in France.

Tunisia has now qualified seven times for the World Cup, and will hope to improve on a record of only three victories in 18 matches and never progressing beyond the first round.

North Africa is likely to have four representatives at the 2026 World Cup with record seven-time African champions Egypt and Algeria set to join Morocco and Tunisia.

Egypt will qualify if they win a top-of-the-table Group A clash in Burkina Faso on Tuesday, while Algeria need three more points to win Group G after a 0-0 draw against Guinea.

Uganda and Mozambique narrowed the gap behind Algeria to four points with 2-0 victories over Somalia and Botswana, respectively.

Algeria is away to bottom team Somalia and host Uganda in October and seems set to secure World Cup qualification for a fifth time.

Morocco demonstrated strength in depth by resting several stars, including Paris Saint-Germain full-back Achraf Hakimi, in a 2-0 Group E win over Zambia in Ndola.

A capacity 50,000 crowd saw Youssef en Nesyri score early in the first half and Hamza Igamane even earlier in the second half.

Morocco, which eliminated Spain and Portugal en route to the 2022 semi-finals, boasts the only 100 percent record in Africa qualifying, winning seven matches.

Group I leaders Ghana moved closer to a fifth World Cup appearance in six editions by edging Mali 1-0 in Accra through an early second-half goal from Alexander Djiku.

Ghana has 19 points, three more than Madagascar. Top seeds Mali can no longer win the section and their sole hope of survival lies in being among the best four second-placed teams.