Africa World Cup 2026 Qualifying Groups and when does 2026 world cup qualifying start. The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification for the CAF (Confederation of African Football) will determine the teams that will participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is set to be hosted by the United States of America, Canada, and Mexico.
In this qualification tournament, a total of nine slots in the final tournament will be allocated to teams from the CAF. Additionally, one inter-confederation play-off slot will be reserved for a team from the CAF. This play-off slot means that one CAF team will have the opportunity to compete against teams from other confederations for a chance to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Africa World Cup 2026 Qualifying Groups
Group A:
Egypt
Burkina Faso
Guinea-Bissau
Sierra Leone
Ethiopia
Djibouti
Group B:
Senegal
DR Congo
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
Republic of Congo
Tanzania
Niger
Eritrea
Group F:
Ivory Coast
Gabon
Kenya
The Gambia
Burundi
Seychelles
Group G:
Algeria
Guinea
Uganda
Mozambique
Botswana
Somalia
Group H:
Tunisia
Equatorial Guinea
Namibia
Malawi
Liberia
São Tomé and Príncipe
Group I:
Mali
Ghana
Madagascar
Central African Republic
Comoros
Chad
When Does 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Start
The qualifying matches for the World Cup will begin with the first two matchdays scheduled to take place from November 13 to November 21. Subsequent matches will be held in the following year as part of the new format.
Under this format, the winners of each group will secure direct qualification for the World Cup finals. However, the top four runners-up from the groups will enter a playoff stage to determine which team will represent Africa in the inter-confederation playoff. This playoff will decide which African team will have the opportunity to compete against teams from other confederations for a place in the World Cup.
The new format aims to provide a more competitive and rigorous qualification process for African teams, ensuring that the continent’s representatives in the World Cup are truly deserving based on their performance in the qualifying stages.
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