Discover dates, qualifying format and the number of tickets to the next FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Play-Off Tournament in Africa.
African qualifiers for the 26 World Cup start on 15 November
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
The Africa Zone (CAF) qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 26™ begin on 15 November 2023 and end in November 2025.
Nine African teams are guaranteed to compete in the World Cup. Another will participate in the FIFA Play-off Tournament.
The African qualifiers will be played across two rounds. The first will be contested in the form of a group stage, with eight groups of six teams and one group of five, following Eritrea's withdrawal. Each team will play two matches, home and away, against each of their opponents. The top finisher in each of the nine groups 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.
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 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
15-21 November, 2023: 1st and 2nd matchdays
3-11 June, 2024: 3rd and 4th matchdays
17-25 March, 2025: 5th and 6th matchdays
1-9 September, 2025: 7th and 8th matchdays
6-14 October, 2025: 9th and 10th matchdays
10-18 November, 2025: CAF 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.
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
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