Ethiopia coach Mesay Teferi acknowledged Djibouti is getting better as the two neighboring nations face off on matchday six of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying in El Jadida, Morocco. The two bottom sides of Group A lost their respective matchday five games with Ethiopia falling to group leaders Egypt and Djibouti to second placed Burkina Faso.
Teferi stated the days that Djibouti looked weak are now over. “They (Djibouti) are one of the teams that have improved in recent times. They are getting strong in a different way. So we need to focus on the game and get the result that will please us.”
The Waliyas are winless in their World Cup qualifying campaign after they drew three games and lost twice. Teferi admitted qualification is slim after a 2-0 loss to Egypt. Nonetheless he said the loss will serve as a learning curve:
“We should learn from our weaknesses and do better next time. We should play the next game cautiously and get a good result.”
Ethiopia and Djibouti played out a one all draw in their last World Cup qualifying encounter at the same venue in June 2024. Ethiopia occupies fifth with three points whilst Djibouti are bottom with a point.
Group A Table (5 matches played)
Points | |
Egypt | 13 |
Burkina Faso | 8 |
Sierra Leone | 8 |
Guinea-Bissau | 6 |
Ethiopia | 3 |
Djibouti | 1 |
The group winner qualifies for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Four of the group runners-up qualify for a playoff to determine Africa's representative at the intercontinental qualifying playoff.
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