Everything you need to know about 2026 World Cup qualifying for Africa
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African qualifiers for the 26 World Cup start on 13 November
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Discover all the key dates
- Nine African teams will participate in the final phase of the World Cup 26, one will go to the play-off tournament
Discover dates, qualifying format and the number of tickets to the next FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Play-Off Tournament in Africa.
Dates
The Africa Zone (CAF) qualifiers for the 26 FIFA World Cup™ begin on 13 November 2023 and end in November 2025.
Tickets to FIFA World Cup 26™
Nine African teams are guaranteed to compete in the World Cup. Another will participate in the FIFA Play-off Tournament.
How qualifying works
The African qualifiers will be played across two rounds. The first will be contested in the form of a group stage, with nine groups of six teams each. Each team will play two matches, home and away, against each of their opponents. The top finisher in each group will qualify for World Cup 26.
The second round will pit the four best runners-up in two one-off semi-finals, followed by a final. The winner of this second round will participate in the FIFA Play-off Tournament.
First-round groups
GROUP A Egypt Burkina Faso Guinea-Bissau Sierra Leone Ethiopia Djibouti
GROUP B Senegal Congo DR Mauritania Togo Sudan South Sudan
GROUP C Nigeria South Africa Benin Zimbabwe Rwanda Lesotho
GROUP D Cameroon Cape Verde Angola Libya Eswatini Mauritius
GROUP E Morocco Zambia Congo Tanzania Niger Eritrea
GROUP F Côte d'Ivoire Gabon Kenya The Gambia Burundi Seychelles
GROUP G Algeria Guinea Uganda Mozambique Botswana Somalia
GROUP H Tunisia Equatorial Guinea Namibia Malawi Liberia Sao Tome e Principe
GROUP I Mali Ghana Madagascar Central African Republic Comoros Chad
The schedule
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13-21 November, 2023: 1st and 2nd matchdays
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3-11 June, 2024: 3rd and 4th matchdays
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17-25 March, 2025: 5th and 6th matchdays
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1-9 September, 2025: 7th and 8th matchdays
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6-14 October, 2025: 9th and 10th matchdays
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10-18 November, 2025: CAF play-off tournament
FIFA Play-Off Tournament
The FIFA Play-Off Tournament will see six sides fight it out for the final two places at the 23rd FIFA World Cup.
It will involve two teams from Concacaf and one team apiece from the AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL and OFC.
The four lowest-ranked nations will meet in bracket semi-finals.
The two highest-ranked teams will go directly into the finals. The winners of the two bracket finals will reach the FIFA World Cup 26.
FIFA World Cup appearances
8 – Cameroon
6 – Morocco
6 – Nigeria
6 – Tunisia
4 – Ghana
4 – Algeria
3 – Senegal
3 – Egypt
3 – South Africa
3 – Côte d'Ivoire
1 – DR Congo (under the banner of Zaire)
1 – Angola
1 – Togo
Credit: FIFA