South Africa and Morocco claim their spots at the FIFAe World Cup 2026

Morocco and South Africa have qualified for the Rocket League edition of the FIFAe World Cup 2026 following a comfortable route through the Continental Championships, securing the two qualification slots available to Africa. South Africa, who fielded a team featuring long-standing Sub-Saharan Africa RLCS professionals David "2Die4" Morgenrood, Gareth "Snowyy" Spiers, and Brayden "gunz" Keith, went unbeaten in the group stage, apart from a 1-1 draw against Morocco, before brushing aside Tunisia in the semi finals with a 4-0 win to secure qualification. Their counterparts Morocco came into the event without their most senior players. Represented by European bubble players Marouane "skyrix" Biba, Rayane Bennani "ray" Smires, and Anouar "AnoriQ" Bouzidi, they reached the FIFAe World Cup for a third consecutive time, defeating Egypt in the semi finals 4-1, scoring 26 goals after unexpectedly dropping the first game of the series.

For the past three years, Morocco has been the strongest African national team. In 2024, a roster of Nassim "nass" Bali, Samy "dralii" Hajji, and the now retired Amine "itachi" Benayachi earned a top-four placement in the FIFAe World Cup, taking a French team featuring Alexis "zen" Bernier at the height of his powers to a seven-game series. In more recent times, the nation has had to rely on its emerging talent in the European scene. Skyrix, who made his first Regional Open appearance this year, replaced Itachi for the 2025 FIFAe World Cup but the team could only manage a top-12 finish, exiting in the group stage. For the online 2026 FIFAe Nations League, Skyrix was joined by ray, AnoriQ, and the experienced coach Andy "Kassio" Landais. Together, they dominated the Nations League, beating South Africa on two occasions while topping the rankings to reach the Continental Championships.

With RLCS stars Nassim "nass" Bali and Samy "dralii" Hajji focused on their preparation for the RLCS 2026 World Championship in two weeks, Morocco fielded the same lineup for the Continental Championships. As proven favourites alongside South Africa with players well-tested in the European scene, Morocco controlled the group stage dropping only one game to South Africa across the phase. They then sliced through Egypt in the semi finals to secure their expected place at the FIFAe World Cup 2026. The grand finals offered South Africa a chance to avenge their losses during the Nations League stage, but ultimately the Moroccan trio proved too much. In a close six-game series, Morocco defeated the veteran South African core 4-2, earning their nation a tournament title on home soil in Casablanca.

South Africa, who have also appeared at the two previous FIFAe World Cups, were never truly threatened by the rest of the field. They matched Morocco’s group stage record and even defeated their semi finals opponents Tunisia, featuring retired MENA player Ghassan, without dropping a game. The team is built around former Limitless duo Snowyy and 2Die4, who have represented South Africa for over three years and have competed together at two RLCS World Championships. For this year, they are again joined by Snowyy’s Five Fears teammate gunz, who has emerged as the country’s leading prospect in over the past two seasons, recently qualifying for his first World Championship. The trio will be looking to improve on their 15th-16th place finish from last year, hoping for a series win in the group stage. South Africa joins Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Jordan, Brazil, Oman, and Chile as the current qualified teams for the final stage of the FIFAe World Cup 2026.