Egypt kicked off their 2026 World Cup qualifiers in a blistering form with their talisman Mohamed Salah scoring four goals as the Pharaohs beat Djibouti 6-0 in Cairo. Elsewhere there were wins for Algeria, Mozambique, Burundi and Gabon. Nigeria forced Lesotho to a 1-1 in Nigeria.
Africa has a guaranteed nine qualifiers for the 2026 finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States, with all group winners booking a spot at the tournament.
In a Group A match totally dominated by the hosts, Salah’s first for Egypt came in the 17th minute after Mostafa Mohamed whipped in a cross from the left.
Five minutes later, Salah made it 2-0 from the penalty spot and he completed his hat-trick shortly after the break, pouncing on a ball from Ahmed El Fatouh.
With 20 minutes to go Salah bagged his fourth, with El Fatouh again the provider, and Mohamed added a fifth four minutes later.
Trezeguet completed the rout for the Pharaohs with a strike in the 89th minute inside the Cairo International Stadium.
In Group G, Algeria beat Somalia 3-1 at home after Mozambique won 3-2 away against Botswana earlier on Thursday.
Gabon came from behind to beat Kenya 2-1 in Group F thanks to an 88th-minute winner, with Burundi sealing a 3-2 ‘home’ win over The Gambia in a Group F match played in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
And Sudan drew 1-1 against Togo in Benina, Libya, in Group B, which contains continental champions Senegal.
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In Thursday’s late match, Cape Verde and Angola drew 0-0 in their Group D opener in Praia
Meanwhile, Ethiopia have filed a complaint with world governing body Fifa after their Group A opener against Sierra Leone on Wednesday evening was disrupted by dense fog.
The game was played in the Moroccan coastal city of El Jadida because Ethiopia do not have an international-standard venue.
The half-time break was extended and the referee stopped the game twice in the second half, with the match ending 0-0 after 15 minutes of stoppage time.
Ethiopia are set to host Burkina Faso back at the Stade El Abdi on Tuesday evening, and the EFF have asked Fifa to bring forward the kick-off from 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) to avoid a repeat of foggy conditions.
