The road to the FIFA World Cup 2026 scheduled to be hosted by America, Canada and Mexico has been mapped out for African National teams as the draw for the CAF World Cup 2026 qualifiers was held in Abidjan Cote, d’Ivoire on Thursday.
The 54 African National teams were placed in nine groups of six in a re-shaped African competition that will produce at least nine teams at the 2026 World Cup. The new World Cup format which will commence in 2026 has 48 teams instead of the former 32 teams, with the possibility of a 10th African team making it through an Inter-continental playoff (FIFA World Cup Playoffs).
According to the Washington Times, the winners of the nine groups are guaranteed a place at the World Cup, while the four best second-place teams will participate in the African Playoffs. The winner of the CAF Playoffs will enter an intercontinental mini-tournament, where the two final teams at the World Cup will be decided.
The CAF 2026 World Cup qualifiers will span over two years, from November 2023 to November 2025.
The official draw was attended by CAF President, Dr. Patrice Motsepe and FIFA President, Gianni Infantino. African football legends Emmanuel Eboue, Asamoah Gyan, Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha. Emmanuel Adebayor, Wael Gomaa and Alexandre Song assisted in the draw.
The groups are as follows:
Group A:
1. Egypt
2. Burkina Faso
3. Guinea Bissau
4. Ethiopia
5. Sierra Leone
6. Djibouti
Group B:
1. Senegal
2. DR Congo
3. Mauritania
4. Togo
5. Sudan
6. South Sudan
Group C;
1. Nigeria
2. South Africa
3. Benin
4. Zimbabwe
5. Rwanda
6. Lesotho
Group D:
1. Cameroon
2. Cape – Verde
3. Angola
4. Libya
5. Eswatini
6. Mauritius
Group E:
1. Morocco
2. Zambia
3. Congo
4. Tanzania
5. Niger
6. Eritrea
Group F:
1. Cote d’ Ivoire
2. Gabon
3. Kenya
4. Gambia
5. Burundi
6. Seychelles
Group G:
1. Algeria
2. Guinea
3. Uganda
4. Mozambique
5. Botswana
6. Somalia
Group H:
1. Tunisia
2. Equatorial Guinea
3. Namibia
4. Malawi
5. Sao Tome and Principe
6. Liberia
Group I:
1. Mali
2. Ghana
3. Madagascar
4. Central African Republic
5. Comoros
6. Chad
