African countries will know their opponents for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on Thursday with a new qualification format that was approved by CAF Executive Committee in May.
The new qualification format for the Mundial that will take place in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico will be in two rounds and games will start in September.
Nine countries will automatically represent Africa at the 2026 World Cup, while one team from the runners-up playoffs will compete in the inter-confederation play-offs for a chance to make it to the tournament.
Thursday’s draw ceremony will take place in the Ivory Coast’s capital city, Abdijan during the 45th CAF General Assembly.
How many countries will participate in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers?
All members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) will participate in the first round of the qualifiers. 54 countries will be grouped into nine groups of six teams.
How many rounds to the 2026 World Cup?
First round: Teams will be drawn into nine groups of six teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The winner of each group will qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Second round: The four best-ranked group runners-up will participate in a play-off to determine which team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.
How will the draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers be conducted?
The 54 African teams have been placed in six draw pots based on the latest FIFA world ranking released on June 30 and one team from each pot will be in a group.
Pot 1: Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali and Ivory Coast.
Pot 2: Burkina Faso, Ghana, South Africa, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Guinea, Zambia, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
Pot 3: Uganda, Benin, Mauritania, Kenya, Congo, Madagascar, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia and Angola.
Pot 4: Mozambique, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Malawi and Libya.
Pot 5: Niger, Comoros, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ewastini, Botswana and Liberia.
Pot 6: Lesotho, South Sudan, Mauritius, Chad, Sao Tome and Principe, Djibouti, Seychelles, Eritrea and Somalia.
How long will the 2026 World Cup qualifiers last?
The road to the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take over two years.
The first round of the group fixtures will take place in September 2023 while the final match of the play-offs between the best runners-up will take place in November 2025.
