Gambia’s national football team coach, Tom Saintfiet, is confident that his team can qualify for the 2026 World Cup despite being drawn into a challenging Group F alongside powerhouses such as Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon, as well as Kenya, Burundi, and the Seychelles.
The Scorpions open 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Burundi on November 16, 2023.
Speaking to FIFA.com ahead of the clash, Saintfiet acknowledged the difficulty of the task ahead but was quick to assert his belief in the team’s ability to compete at the highest level.
“We’re ready. Four years ago, I wrote a report and gave it to my superiors,” he said.
“It identified the 2026 World Cup as our goal, and we’re here to qualify. We’re not here just to be competitive, play games and to share out points.
“The message is clear: The Gambia wants to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. This has to be our World Cup. We can do it and I don’t think it’s arrogant to say so.
Under Saintfiet’s guidance, the Gambian team has shown steady improvement in recent years, and the coach firmly believes that this positive trend will continue. He emphasized the importance of teamwork, discipline, and hard work in achieving their goal.
And he is optimistic about the team’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in the country’s history while sharing his his initial reaction when he saw Gambia in that Group
“That it’s doable! It’s a pretty decent draw,” he said
“Because of their history, Côte d’Ivoire are group favourites. We’ve played Gabon before and beat them 2-1 in our last meeting in 2020.
“I expect we’ll be going all-in against Kenya and Burundi, two teams of the same calibre as us. Seychelles are the group minnows but we still will have to be wary of them. In all, we’ll have to successfully navigate our 10 fixtures without any slip-ups.”
Burundi will host the scorpions Scorpions in Dares Salam, Tanzania, as they have no approved Fifa standard pitch for the match
Saintfiet, who has been coaching Gambia since August 2018, also highlighted the importance of preparation and teamwork in achieving success on the international stage.
The 2026 World Cup will be the first to feature 48 teams and will be hosted jointly by Canada, Mexico and the United States. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stages, along with four best third-placed teams.
