Sports

2026 World Cup African Qualifiers: Full Group Draw And Schedule

By Mandy

Posted on July 13, 2023

Discover the full group draw and schedule for the 2026 World Cup African qualifiers. Get in-depth analysis and stay updated on the road to America for African football.

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The African football landscape is set to experience a thrilling ride as the Confederation of African Football (CAF) unveils the draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The journey to the grandest stage of football, set to take place in America, is about to begin.

The Full Draw

The CAF qualifying draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026 has now been made. The nine group winners will automatically qualify for the finals, while one team will enter the FIFA play-off tournament. The qualification campaign begins on 13 November 2023.

“The road to America begins now. Five away games, five home matches from September. The journey to the World Cup is always a thrilling ride, and this time will be no different.” – CAF President

The draw took place in Abdijan, Côte d’Ivoire, and has set the stage for an exciting qualification campaign. The nine group winners will secure their place in the World Cup, while the four best losers will enter a CAF playoff for a chance to qualify for the FIFA inter-continental playoff. This playoff will see one more team seal a place in the World Cup.

The Groups

The draw has resulted in some intriguing groups. Here’s how the teams have been drawn:

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, Cabo 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, São Tomé and Príncipe
Group I: Mali, Ghana, Madagascar, Central African Republic, Comoros, Chad

The Journey Ahead

The nine groups will play in a home and away, round-robin format, with each of the group winners qualifying automatically for the FIFA World Cup 2026™. The four best group runners-up will then compete in a play-off stage to determine CAF’s representative at the FIFA play-off tournament.

The FIFA play-off tournament will feature one team from each of FIFA’s six confederations, except UEFA, plus one additional team from the host confederation (Concacaf). Two of the six teams will be seeded based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. The seeded teams will play for a FIFA World Cup berth against the winners of the first two knockout games involving the four unseeded teams.