2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

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2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

Tournament details
Dates	13 November 2023–18 November 2025
Teams	54 (from 1 confederation)
← 2022 2030 →

The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) will be the qualification tournament for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be held in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico. A total of nine slots in the final tournament and one inter-confederation play-off slot are reserved for CAF teams.

Format

Due to nine CAF teams now directly qualifying instead of five, the CAF Executive Committee announced a new qualification format on 19 May 2023. Teams were drawn into nine groups of six teams. The winner of each group will directly qualify to the World Cup, while the four best group runners-up will participate in play-offs to determine which team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

• Group stage: Nine groups of six teams will play in a home-and-away round-robin matches. Group winners will qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
• Play-off stage: The four best group runners-up will be drawn into play-offs to determine the CAF representative at the inter-confederation play-offs.

Schedule

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Round	Matchday	Matches	Dates
First round	Matchday 1	1 v 6, 2 v 3, 5 v 4	13–21 November 2023
	Matchday 2	4 v 1, 5 v 2, 6 v 3
	Matchday 3	1 v 2, 3 v 5, 4 v 6	3–11 June 2024
	Matchday 4	2 v 4, 3 v 1, 6 v 5
	Matchday 5	2 v 6, 4 v 3, 5 v 1	17–25 March 2025
	Matchday 6	1 v 4, 3 v 2, 5 v 6
	Matchday 7	1 v 5, 3 v 4, 6 v 2	1–9 September 2025
	Matchday 8	2 v 1, 3 v 6, 4 v 5
	Matchday 9	4 v 2, 5 v 3, 6 v 1	6–14 October 2025
	Matchday 10	1 v 3, 2 v 5, 6 v 4
Second round	Semi-finals		10–18 November 2025
	Final

First round

Teams have been drawn into nine groups of six teams and will play home-and-away round robin matches from November 2023 to October 2025. The winners of each group will qualify directly to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the four best group runners-up will advance to a play-off to determine which team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Draw

The draw was held on 13 July 2023 at 15:00 GMT (UTC±0) in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. All 54 FIFA-affiliated football associations from CAF have entered qualification.

The draw pots were announced on 30 June (numbers in parentheses indicate FIFA Men's World Ranking at the time of the draw):

CAF qualification first round draw pots

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
Morocco (13) Senegal (18) Tunisia (31) Algeria (33) Egypt (34) Nigeria (39) Cameroon (43) Mali (50) Ivory Coast (51)	Burkina Faso (55) Ghana (59) South Africa (62) Cape Verde (66) DR Congo (69) Guinea (80) Zambia (84) Gabon (85) Equatorial Guinea (91)	Uganda (92) Benin (93) Mauritania (99) Kenya (105) Congo (106) Madagascar (107) Guinea-Bissau (111) Namibia (112) Angola (114)
Pot 4	Pot 5	Pot 6
Mozambique (117) Gambia (119) Sierra Leone (120) Togo (122) Tanzania (123) Zimbabwe (124) Central African Republic (125) Malawi (126) Libya (127)	Niger (128) Comoros (130) Sudan (131) Rwanda (139) Burundi (140) Ethiopia (143) Eswatini (146) Botswana (147) Liberia (148)	Lesotho (152) South Sudan (168) Mauritius (180) Chad (181) São Tomé and Príncipe (187) Djibouti (193) Seychelles (196) Eritrea (198) Somalia (199)

Groups

Group A

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
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Group B

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
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Group C

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
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Group D

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
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[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Possible play-off stage
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Group E

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group E

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
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[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Possible play-off stage
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Group F

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group F

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									2026 FIFA World Cup
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Possible play-off stage
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Group G

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group G

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									2026 FIFA World Cup
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Possible play-off stage
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Group H

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group H

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									2026 FIFA World Cup
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Possible play-off stage
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Group I

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group I

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									2026 FIFA World Cup
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Possible play-off stage
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Ranking of second-placed teams

Rnk	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	A	Burkina Faso									play-off stage
2	B	DR Congo
3	C	South Africa
4	D	Cape Verde
5	E	Zambia
6	F	Gabon
7	G	Guinea
8	H	Equatorial Guinea
9	I	Ghana

Second round

The 4 best group runners-up will be drawn into play-offs to determine the sole CAF representative at the inter-confederation play-offs. A total of three games will be played.

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	November 2025 (2025-11)
					November 2025 (2025-11)
	November 2025 (2025-11)

Semi-finals

November 2025 (2025-11)		v

---

November 2025 (2025-11)		v

Final

November 2025 (2025-11)		v

Inter-confederation play-offs

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (inter-confederation play-offs)

The play-off winner will join one team each from AFC, CONMEBOL and OFC and two from CONCACAF in the inter-confederation play-offs. The teams will be ranked according to the FIFA Men's World Ranking, with the four lowest-ranked teams playing in two single-elimination matches. The winners will meet the two highest-ranked teams in another set of single-elimination matches, with the winners of these matches qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.