The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) is the African section of the qualification tournament for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico. A total of nine slots in the final tournament and one inter-confederation play-off slot are reserved for CAF teams.[1]
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 directly qualified 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.[2][3]
First round (group stage): Nine groups of six teams played in a home-and-away round-robin matches. Group winners qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Second round (play-off): The four best group runners-up will be drawn into play-offs to determine the CAF representative at the inter-confederation play-offs.
Teams were drawn into nine groups of six teams to play home-and-away round robin matches from November 2023 to October 2025. The winners of each group qualified directly to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the four best group runners-up advanced 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.[4][5] All 54 FIFA-affiliated football associations from CAF entered qualification. However, Eritrea withdrew before matches began.[6][7]
The draw pots were announced on 30 June (numbers in parentheses indicate FIFA Men's World Ranking at the time of the draw):[8][9]
↑ The South Africa v Lesotho match, which originally finished as a 2–0 win for South Africa, was later awarded as a 3–0 win to Lesotho as South Africa fielded the ineligible player Teboho Mokoena.[10]
1 2 3 Congo were suspended on 6 February 2025 due to government interference in Congolese Football Federation operations.[11][12] No announcement regarding their status was immediately available, and CAF initially cancelled their remaining matches.[13] However, Tanzania and Zambia were later awarded 3–0 victories by forfeit.[14] The suspension was lifted by FIFA on 14 May 2025.[15]
↑ Niger were awarded a 3–0 victory by forfeit after Congo refused to travel to DR Congo for their match after their regular stadium was deemed to not meet hosting requirements.[16]
↑ Eritrea withdrew from qualification prior to playing any matches due to concerns that players would seek political asylum if allowed to travel abroad.[6][17][18]
1 2 Equatorial Guinea forfeited two matches for fielding an ineligible player, Emilio Nsue.[22] The original results were Equatorial Guinea 1–0 Namibia and Liberia 0–1 Equatorial Guinea.
↑ The match between Malawi and Equatorial Guinea on 9 October was cancelled[19] due to Equatorial Guinea players refusing to travel citing continual complaints over conditions and money. Equatorial Guinea head coach Juan Micha was sacked and several players were removed from the active squad following the cancellation.[20] FIFA updated the group standings to indicate a 3–0 forfeit by Equatorial Guinea without making an official statement.[21]
On 14 March 2025, CAF notified member associations that matches against the sixth-place team would be discounted when ranking the runners-up due to the withdrawal of Eritrea in Group E.[23] This information was not announced publicly by either CAF or FIFA.
The four best group runners-up (Cameroon, DR Congo, Gabon, and Nigeria) advanced to play-offs to determine the sole CAF representative at the inter-confederation play-offs. The matchups for the semi-final will be based on the 23 October 2025 FIFA rankings, with the highest-ranked side taking on the lowest and the second-highest taking on the third-highest.[24][25] A total of three matches will be played, all hosted in Morocco.[26]
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.[27]
Qualified teams
Qualified for the World Cup
Can qualify
Failed to qualify
Withdrew
Not a CAF member
The following teams from CAF qualified for the final tournament.
There have been 640 goals scored in 256 matches, for an average of 2.5 goals per match (as of 14 October 2025). Players highlighted in bold are still active in the competition.
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Mohamed Amoura (10 goals)
