Salah Scores Four in Egypt's World Cup Qualifier Victory; Nigeria Held to Draw by Lesotho

African World Cup qualifiers see mixed results as Egypt thrashes Djibouti, while Nigeria struggles against lower-ranked Lesotho.

Liverpool and Egypt forward Mohamed Salah scored four goals as Egypt cruised to a 6-0 victory over Djibouti in their first qualifier for the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
Nigeria were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Lesotho, ranked 153rd in the world - 113 places below Nigeria.
Despite dominating the first half, Nigeria could not find a winner in their Group C opener.
Elsewhere, there were wins for Algeria, Mozambique, Burundi and Gabon in the African World Cup qualifiers.
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.