2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
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The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) was 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 were reserved for Confederation of African Football (CAF) teams.[1]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 15 November 2023 – 16 November 2025 |
| Teams | 53 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 259 |
| Goals scored | 648 (2.5 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,647,509 (6,361 per match) |
| Top scorer |  Mohamed Amoura (10 goals) |
← 2022 2030 → | |
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 directly qualified to the World Cup, while the four best group runners-up participated in play-offs to determine which team would 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 tournament. Group winners qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
- Second round (play-off): The four best group runners-up were seeded into play-offs to determine the CAF representative at the inter-confederation play-offs.
Schedule
| Round | Matchday | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| First round | Matchday 1 | 15–18 November 2023 |
| Matchday 2 | 19–21 November 2023 | |
| Matchday 3 | 5–8 June 2024 | |
| Matchday 4 | 9–11 June 2024 | |
| Matchday 5 | 19–22 March 2025 | |
| Matchday 6 | 23–25 March 2025 | |
| Matchday 7 | 3–6 September 2025 | |
| Matchday 8 | 7–9 September 2025 | |
| Matchday 9 | 8–10 October 2025 | |
| Matchday 10 | 12–14 October 2025 | |
| Second round | Semi-finals | 13 November 2025 |
| Final | 16 November 2025 |
First round
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 would 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 after the draw.[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]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 |
|---|---|---|
|
| |
| Pot 4 | Pot 5 | Pot 6 |
|
|
- Teams in bold qualified directly for the World Cup. Teams in italics advanced to the second round.
Groups
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egypt |
10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 2 | +18 | 26 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 6–0 | |
| 2 | Burkina Faso |
10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 8 | +15 | 21 | 0–0 | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 4–1 | ||
| 3 | Sierra Leone |
10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 15 | 0–2 | 0–1 | — | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | ||
| 4 | Guinea-Bissau |
10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 10 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 5 | Ethiopia |
10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 14 | −5 | 9 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 6–1 | ||
| 6 | Djibouti |
10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 33 | −28 | 1 | 0–3 | 0–6 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Senegal |
10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 3 | +19 | 24 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | |
| 2 | DR Congo |
10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 22 | Second round | 2–3 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | |
| 3 | Sudan |
10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 13 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | ||
| 4 | Togo |
10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 8 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | ||
| 5 | Mauritania |
10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 13 | −9 | 7 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | ||
| 6 | South Sudan |
10 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 19 | −16 | 5 | 0–5 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — |
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Africa |
10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 9 | +6 | 18 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–3[a] | 3–0 | 3–1 | |
| 2 | Nigeria |
10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 17 | Second round | 1–1 | — | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | |
| 3 | Benin |
10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 17 | 0–2 | 2–1 | — | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | ||
| 4 | Lesotho |
10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 12 | −3 | 12 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | ||
| 5 | Rwanda |
10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 11 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | ||
| 6 | Zimbabwe |
10 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 12 | −7 | 5 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | — |
- 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 an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena.[10]
Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Verde |
10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 23 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | |
| 2 | Cameroon |
10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 5 | +12 | 19 | Second round | 4–1 | — | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | |
| 3 | Libya |
10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 16 | 3–3 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | ||
| 4 | Angola |
10 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 12 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | ||
| 5 | Mauritius |
10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 17 | −10 | 6 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | ||
| 6 | Eswatini |
10 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 19 | −13 | 3 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 | — |
Group E
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morocco |
8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 2 | +20 | 24 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 5–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | ||
| 2 | Niger |
8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 15 | 1–2 | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | |||
| 3 | Tanzania |
8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 10 | 0–2 | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | 3–0[a] | |||
| 4 | Zambia |
8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 4–2 | |||
| 5 | Congo[a] |
8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 24 | −20 | 1 | 0–6 | 0–3[b] | 1–1 | 0–3[a] | — | |||
| 6 | Eritrea[c] |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew | — |
- 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] but Tanzania and Zambia were later awarded 3–0 victories by forfeit.[14] The suspension was lifted by FIFA on 14 May 2025.[15]
Group F
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivory Coast |
10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 0 | +25 | 26 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 9–0 | |
| 2 | Gabon |
10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 9 | +13 | 25 | Second round | 0–0 | — | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | |
| 3 | Gambia |
10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 27 | 18 | +9 | 13 | 0–2 | 3–4 | — | 3–3 | 2–0 | 5–1 | ||
| 4 | Kenya |
10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 14 | +4 | 12 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | — | 1–1 | 5–0 | ||
| 5 | Burundi |
10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | — | 5–0 | ||
| 6 | Seychelles |
10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 53 | −51 | 0 | 0–7 | 0–4 | 0–7 | 0–5 | 1–3 | — |
Group G
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Algeria |
10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 8 | +16 | 25 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–1 | 5–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | |
| 2 | Uganda |
10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 18 | 1–2 | — | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 3 | Mozambique |
10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 17 | −3 | 18 | 0–2 | 3–1 | — | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | ||
| 4 | Guinea |
10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 15 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | — | 2–2 | 0–0 | ||
| 5 | Botswana |
10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 16 | −4 | 10 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | ||
| 6 | Somalia |
10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 20 | −17 | 1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–3 | — |
Group H
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tunisia |
10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0 | +22 | 28 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 3−0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | |
| 2 | Namibia |
10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 10 | +3 | 15 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | ||
| 3 | Liberia |
10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 11 | +2 | 15 | 0–1 | 3–1 | — | 0–1 | 3–0[a] | 2–1 | ||
| 4 | Malawi |
10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 13 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | — | 3–0[b] | 3–1 | ||
| 5 | Equatorial Guinea |
10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 15 | −7 | 11 | 0–1 | 0–3[a] | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | ||
| 6 | São Tomé and Príncipe |
10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 26 | −21 | 3 | 0–6 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | — |
- Equatorial Guinea forfeited two matches after they fielded 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] after Equatorial Guinea's players went on strike and refused to travel over continued complaints over conditions and money: Equatorial Guinea head coach Juan Micha and several players were fired following the cancellation.[20] FIFA updated the group standings to indicate a 3–0 forfeit win to Malawi without making an official statement.[21]
Group I
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ghana |
10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 6 | +17 | 25 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 5–0 | |
| 2 | Madagascar |
10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 19 | 0–3 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | ||
| 3 | Mali |
10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 6 | +11 | 18 | 1–2 | 4–1 | — | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | ||
| 4 | Comoros |
10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 13 | −1 | 15 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–3 | — | 4–2 | 1–0 | ||
| 5 | Central African Republic |
10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 24 | −13 | 8 | 0–5 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | ||
| 6 | Chad |
10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 24 | −19 | 1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–3 | — |
Ranking of runners-up
On 14 March 2025, CAF notified its member associations that matches against sixth-place teams would be excluded when ranking the runners-up, due to Group E having five teams following the withdrawal of Eritrea.[23] This information was not announced publicly by either CAF or FIFA.
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | F | Gabon |
8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 9 | +6 | 19 | Second round |
| 2 | B | DR Congo |
8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 16 | |
| 3 | D | Cameroon |
8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 15 | |
| 4 | C | Nigeria |
8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 15 | |
| 5 | A | Burkina Faso |
8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 15 | |
| 6 | E | Niger |
8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 15 | |
| 7 | I | Madagascar |
8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 13 | |
| 8 | G | Uganda |
8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 12 | |
| 9 | H | Namibia |
8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 9 |
Second round
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 were based on the 17 October 2025 FIFA rankings, with the highest-ranked side taking on the lowest and the second-highest taking on the third-highest.[24][25][26] A total of three matches were played, all hosted in Morocco.[27]
Inter-confederation play-offs
The winner of the second round, DR Congo, joined Bolivia (from CONMEBOL), Iraq (from AFC), Jamaica and Suriname (both from CONCACAF), and New Caledonia (from OFC) in the inter-confederation play-offs.
The teams were ranked according to the November 2025 FIFA Men's World Ranking, with the four lowest-ranked teams playing in two single-elimination matches. The winners met 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.[28]
| Semi-final | Final | |||||
| 31 March 2026 – Zapopan | ||||||
| DR Congo (a.e.t.) | 1 | |||||
| 26 March 2026 – Zapopan | ||||||
 Jamaica | 0 | |||||
 New Caledonia | 0 | |||||
| Jamaica | 1 | |||||
Qualified teams
The following teams from CAF qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup[a] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morocco | Group E winners | 5 September 2025 | 6 (1970, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2018, 2022) |
| Tunisia | Group H winners | 8 September 2025 | 6 (1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, 2022) |
| Egypt | Group A winners | 8 October 2025 | 3 (1934, 1990, 2018) |
| Algeria | Group G winners | 9 October 2025 | 4 (1982, 1986, 2010, 2014) |
| Ghana | Group I winners | 12 October 2025 | 4 (2006, 2010, 2014, 2022) |
| Cape Verde | Group D winners | 13 October 2025 | Debut |
| South Africa | Group C winners | 14 October 2025 | 3 (1998, 2002, 2010) |
| Senegal | Group B winners | 14 October 2025 | 3 (2002, 2018, 2022) |
| Ivory Coast | Group F winners | 14 October 2025 | 3 (2006, 2010, 2014) |
| DR Congo | Inter-confederation play-offs Pathway 1 winners | 31 March 2026 | 1 (1974) |
Notes
- Italic indicates hosts for that year.
Top goalscorers
There were 648 goals scored in 259 matches, for an average of 2.5 goals per match.
10 goals
9 goals
8 goals
7 goals
6 goals
5 goals
Below are full goalscorer lists for each group and the second round: