The Confederation of African Football (CAF) qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup get back underway this week, and with teams battling it out for a coveted place in the world’s most prestigious tournament, this is the perfect opportunity to provide the rundown on how it all works.
54 teams enter the qualifiers at the first stage (though just 53 remain after Eritrea’s withdrawal), where they are split into nine groups of six teams and play each side in their respective group home and away, with nine teams eventually going on to secure their direct qualification for the World Cup.
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The winners of each of the nine groups secure the instant qualification, while the four best runners-up across all of the groups will advance to a play-off, where they will battle for a place in the inter-confederation play-offs for a spot in the World Cup.
This inter-confederation play-off, labelled the ‘FIFA Play-Off Tournament’ will see six teams fight it out for the final two places at the 23rd FIFA World Cup.
This tournament will be made up of two teams from Concacaf and one team from each of the AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL AND OFC.
The four lowest-ranked sides will meet in the semi-finals of the tournament, while the two-highest ranked teams will go directly into either of the finals. The two winners of each of the finals will secure their place in the 2026 World Cup.
As it stands, Egypt, Sudan, Rwanda, Cameroon, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Tunisia and Comoros top their respective groups, leaving them in pole position to secure their direct qualification, although there are still six games still to play.
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The likes of Senegal, Ghana and South Africa will be aiming to topple their group leaders in the final matches, while Nigeria are desperately trying to at least book their place in the play-offs.
The Super Eagles have thus far underwhelmed in the CAF qualifiers, currently sitting fifth in Group C with just three points after four matches, from no wins, three draws and one defeat.
That leaves Nigeria trailing the top three, made of Benin, South Africa and Rwanda, by three points, meaning they are in desperate need of victories and other results to go there way in the final six fixtures if they are to have any chance of qualifying for the upcoming World Cup competition.
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