Football - Top African teams battle during International Break

The DRC is aiming for the World Cup
While many others will play for butter, only the DR Congo will have a crucial meeting. The Leopards will be on the track for a highly important meeting: the dam for the 2026 World Cup. Sébastien Desabre’s men will face, on 31 March, the winner of the duel between Jamaica and New Caledonia, who face each other in the semi-finals of the intercontinental play-offs.

Preliminaries of AFCON 2027
Just like the DR Congo, some teams will also have games at stake. Twelve of the lowest-ranked teams will start the campaign for qualification for AFCON 2027. The posters will be: Djibouti - South Sudan, Chad - Burundi, Somalia - Mauritius, Seychelles - Lesotho, Eritrea - Eswatini, and São Tomé and Principe - Ethiopia.

Gala matches for Egypt, Ghana and Mauritania
Egypt will have two friendly matches on their side, including a prestigious one. Indeed, the Pharaohs will challenge the Spain of Lamine Yamal, Pedri or even Rodri. The duel against the reigning European champions will take place on 31 March. The day before, Ghana will also face one of the best teams in the world: Germany. Quite a challenge for the Black Stars who, like the Egyptians, will be keen to prepare well for the World Cup.

Mauritania will not compete at the 2026 World Cup, but nevertheless they will have their moment of glory during this March truce. The Mourabitounes will face Argentina on March 27 at the Bombonera. Sacred challenge in sight for the Mauritanians who will play against the world champions and reigning double champion of South America.

Cape Verde, who will play their first World Cup this summer, will face Chile. As for Côte d'Ivoire, it will face South Korea (28 March) and Scotland (31 March), while Algeria will face Federico Valverde’s Uruguay on 31 March.

Senegal is going to celebrate
Senegal, champion of Africa last January, then stripped of its title by the CAF Jury d'Appel, will still celebrate during this March truce. The Lions will first meet Peru on March 28 at the Stade de France. Opportunity seized to present the AFCON2025 trophy to the supporters of the diaspora. Then, Pape Thiaw and his men will return to Dakar for a derby against Gambia on the 31st.

As for Morocco, the new champions, they will have two South American opponents with the formidable Ecuador (27) then Paraguay (31). Note that these will be the first games of the Atlas Lions since the departure of Walid Regragui.