A record nine African teams have qualified for the 2026 World Cup, and 10 is a possibility as the 54 nations of CAF scrapped for places in the North American-based tournament.
MORE — How will 48-team 2026 World Cup work?
Senegal, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Cape Verde, Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and South Africa were the nine teams who have qualified automatically after a brilliant qualification tournament.
The playoffs saw Nigeria beating Gabon and Cameroon losing in shock fashion to DR Congo to crash out, and the sole CAF spot in the inter-confederation play offs went to DR Congo after they beat Nigeria on penalty kicks. Neither Cameroon or Nigeria will be at the 2026 World Cup.
Here’s everything you need to know about an epic African World Cup qualifying campaign.
African (CAF) 2026 World Cup qualification format
- First round (Nov. 15, 2023 - Oct. 14 2025): 54 teams, nine groups, top team from each group qualifies for World Cup, four best runners-up go to playoff semifinals
- Second round (Nov. 10-18, 2025): Four best group runners-up stage semifinal, final. Winner plays inter-confederation playoff.
African (CAF) World Cup qualification schedule — Playoff fixtures
All kickoff times ET
Thursday, November 13 - Semifinals
Game 1: Nigeria 4-1 Gabon
Game 2: Cameroon 0-1 DR Congo
Sunday, November 16 - Final
Nigeria 1-1 DR Congo (3-4 on penalty kicks) — DR Congo qualifies for FIFA’s inter-confederation playoff for 2026 World Cup
African (CAF) 2026 World Cup qualification — Standings/table
Group A
- Egypt - 26 points, +18 GD — QUALIFIED
- Burkina Faso - 21 points, +15 GD — ELIMINATED
- Sierra Leone - 15 points, +2 GD — ELIMINATED
- Guinea-Bissau - 10 points, -2 GD — ELIMINATED
- Ethiopia - 9 points, -5 GD — ELIMINATED
- Djibouti - 1 point, -28 GD — ELIMINATED
Group B
- Senegal - 24 points, +19 GD — QUALIFIED
- Democratic Republic of Congo - 22 points, +9 GD — ADVANCED
- Sudan - 13 points, +2 GD — ELIMINATED
- Togo - 8 points, -5 GD — ELIMINATED
- Mauritania -7 points, -9 GD — ELIMINATED
- South Sudan - 5 points, -16 GD — ELIMINATED
Group C
- South Africa - 18 points, +6 GD — QUALIFIED
- Nigeria - 17 points, +7 GD — ADVANCED
- Benin - 17 points, +5 GD — ELIMINATED
- Lesotho - 12 points, -3 GD — ELIMINATED
- Rwanda - 11 points, -1 GD — ELIMINATED
- Zimbabwe - 5 points, -7 GD — ELIMINATED
Group D
- Cape Verde - 23 points, +8 GD — QUALIFIED
- Cameroon - 19 points, +12 GD — ADVANCED
- Libya - 16 points, +2 GD — ELIMINATED
- Angola - 12 points, +1 GD — ELIMINATED
- Mauritius - 6 points, -10 GD — ELIMINATED
- Eswatini - 3 points, -13 GD — ELIMINATED
Group E
- Morocco - 24 points, +20 GD — QUALIFIED
- Niger - 15 points, +1 GD — ELIMINATED
- Tanzania - 10 points, -1 GD — ELIMINATED
- Zambia - 9 points, 0 GD — ELIMINATED
- Republic of Congo - 1 point, -20 GD — ELIMINATED
- Eritrea - withdrew
Group F
- Ivory Coast - 26 points, +25 GD — QUALIFIED
- Gabon - 25 points, +13 GD — ADVANCED
- Gambia - 13 points, +9 GD — ELIMINATED
- Kenya - 12 points, +4 GD — ELIMINATED
- Burundi - 10 points, 0 GD — ELIMINATED
- Seychelles - 0 points, -51 GD — ELIMINATED
Group G
- Algeria - 25 points, +16 GD — QUALIFIED
- Uganda - 18 points, +5 GD — ELIMINATED
- Mozambique - 18 points, -3 GD — ELIMINATED
- Guinea - 15 points, +3 GD — ELIMINATED
- Botswana - 10 points, -4 GD — ELIMINATED
- Somalia - 1 point, -17 GD — ELIMINATED
Group H
- Tunisia - 28 points, +22 GD — QUALIFIED
- Namibia - 15 points, +3 GD — ELIMINATED
- Liberia - 15 points, +2 GD — ELIMINATED
- Malawi - 13 points, +1 GD — ELIMINATED
- Equatorial Guinea - 11 points, -7 GD — ELIMINATED
- Sao Tome and Principe - 3 points, -21 GD — ELIMINATED
Group I
- Ghana - 25 points, +17 GD — QUALIFIED
- Madagascar - 19 points, +5 GD — ELIMINATED
- Mali - 18 points, +11 GD — ELIMINATED
- Comoros - 15 points, -1 GD — ELIMINATED
- Central African Republic - 8 points, -13 GD — ELIMINATED
- Chad - 1 point, -19 GD — ELIMINATED
African (CAF) 2026 World Cup qualification — Ranking of second-place teams (four advance to second round)
CAF have announced that matches against the sixth-place team in each group. Teams were informed in March 2025 but the information was not immediately made public.
- Gabon - 19 points, +6 GD — ADVANCED
- Democratic Republic of Congo - 16 points, +5 GD — ADVANCED
- Cameroon - 15 points, +9 GD — ADVANCED
- Nigeria - 15 points, +7 GD — ADVANCED
- Burkina Faso - 15 points, +6 GD — ELIMINATED
- Niger - 15 points, +1 GD — ELIMINATED
- Madagascar - 13 points, 0 GD — ELIMINATED
- Uganda - 12 points, +2 GD — ELIMINATED
- Namibia - 9 points, -2 GD — ELIMINATED
* denotes qualification to at least second round, still can win group and directly qualify for World Cup
**
^ denotes nations that cannot win their group but can still qualify for second round
Premier League players in African (CAF) 2026 World Cup qualification
Algeria: Rayan Ait-Nouri (Manchester City)
Angola: Manuel Benson (Burnley)
Burkina Faso: Issa Kabore (Manchester City), Dango Ouattara (Brentford)
Cameroon: Jackson Tchatchoua (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Andre Onana (Manchester United), Bryan Mbeumo (Manchester United), Carlos Baleba (Brighton)
Dem Rep of Congo: Yoane Wissa (Newcastle United), Arthur Masuaku (Sunderland), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (West Ham United), Noah Sadiki (Sunderland)
Egypt: Omar Marmoush (Man City), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Gambia: Yankuba Minteh (Brighton), Francis Gomez Tambadou (Everton)
Ghana: Mohammed Kudus (West Ham), Antoine Semenyo (Bournemouth)
Guinea-Bissau: Beto (Everton)
Ivory Coast: Willy Boly (Nottingham Forest), Ibrahim Sangare (Nottingham Forest), Simon Adingra (Sunderland), Amad Diallo (Manchester United), David Datro Fofana (Chelsea), Emmanuel Agabdou (Wolves), Evann Guessand (Aston Villa)
Mali: Yves Bissouma (Tottenham Hotspur), Cheick Doucoure (Crystal Palace)
Mauritius: Gabriel Caliste (West Ham United)
Morocco: Amine Adli (Bournemouth), Chemsdine Talbi (Sunderland), Noussair Mazraoui (Manchester United), Chadi Riad (Crystal Palace), Adam Aznou (Everton)
Mozambique: Reinildo Mandava (Sunderland)
Nigeria: Samuel Chukwueze (Fulham), Calvin Bassey (Fulham), Alex Iwobi (Fulham), Frank Onyeka (Brentford), Ola Aina (Nottingham Forest), Taiwo Awoniyi (Nottingham Forest), Tolu Arokodare (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Senegal: Idrissa Gana Gueye (Everton), Pape Matar Sarr (Tottenham Hotspur), Ismaila Sarr (Crystal Palace), Iliman Ndiaye (Everton), El Hadji Malick Diouf (West Ham United), Habib Diarra (Sunderland)
South Africa: Lyle Foster (Burnley)
Tunisia: Hannibal Mejbri (Burnley)
Zimbabwe: Tawanda Chirewa (Wolves), Marley Tavaziva (Brentford), Marshall Munetsi (Wolves)
African (CAF) World Cup qualification schedule — First round results
Matchday 1
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Namibia
Rwanda 0-0 Zimbabwe
DR Congo 2-0 Mauritania
Ethiopia 0-0 Sierra Leone
Thursday, November 16, 2023
Burundi 3-2 Gambia
Botswana 2-3 Mozambique
Nigeria 1-1 Lesotho
Sudan 1-1 Togo
Gabon 2-1 Kenya
Algeria 3-1 Somalia
Egypt 6-0 Djibouti
Morocco vs Eritrea — canceled
Cape Verde 0-0 Angola
Friday, November 17, 2023
Eswatini 0-1 Libya
Comoros 4-2 Central African Republic
Guinea 2-1 Uganda
Liberia 0-1 Malawi
Zambia 4-2 Rep. Congo
Ghana 1-0 Madagascar
Mali 3-1 Chad
Burkina Faso 1-1 Guinea-Bissau
Tunisia 4-0 Sao Tome and Principe
Ivory Coast 9-0 Seychelles
Cameroon 3-0 Mauritius
Saturday, November 18, 2023
South Africa 2-1 Benin
Niger 0-1 Tanzania
Senegal 4-0 South Sudan
Matchday 2
Sunday, November 19, 2023
Zimbabwe 1-1 Nigeria
Burundi 1-2 Gabon
Mozambique 0-2 Algeria
Sudan 1-0 DR Congo
Sierra Leone 0-2 Egypt
Monday, November 20, 2023
Djibouti 0-1 Guinea-Bissau
Gambia 0-2 Ivory Coast
Eritrea vs Rep Congo — canceled
Liberia 0-1 Equatorial Guinea
Seychelles 0-5 Kenya
Mali 1-1 Central African Republic
Chad 0-3 Madagascar
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Lesotho 0-0 Benin
Ethiopia 0-3 Burkina Faso
Somalia 0-1 Uganda
Eswatini 0-2 Cape Verde
Malawi 0-1 Tunisia
Botswana 1-0 Guinea
Rwanda 2-0 South Africa
Togo 0-0 Senegal
Comoros 1-0 Ghana
South Sudan 0-0 Mauritania
Mauritius 0-0 Angola
Libya 1-1 Cameroon
Sao Tome and Principe 0-2 Namibia
Tanzania 0-2 Morocco
Niger 2-1 Zambia
June 3, 2024
Libya 2-1 Mauritius
Mali 1-2 Ghana
Kenya 1-1 Burundi
Gambia 5-1 Seychelles
Angola 1-0 Eswatini
Namibia 1-1 Liberia
Morocco 2-1 Zambia
Senegal 1-1 DR Congo
Benin 1-0 Rwanda
Ivory Coast 1-0 Gabon
Tunisia 1-0 Equatorial Guinea
Sierra Leone 2-1 Djibouti
Egypt 2-1 Burkina Faso
Malawi 3-1 Sao Tome and Principe
Mauritania 0-2 Sudan
Central African Republic 1-0 Chad
Rep Congo vs Niger — postponed
Togo 1-1 South Sudan
Zimbabwe 0-2 Lesotho
Mozambique 2-1 Somalia
Madagascar 2-1 Comoros
Guinea-Bissau 0-0 Ethiopia
Nigeria 1-1 South Africa
Uganda 1-0 Botswana
Cameroon 4-1 Cape Verde
Algeria 1-0 Guinea
June 10, 2024
Somalia 1-3 Botswana
Benin 2-1 Nigeria
Sao Tome and Principe 0-1 Liberia
Djibouti 1-1 Ethiopia
DR Congo 1-0 Togo
Mauritania 0-1 Senegal
Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Malawi
Burkina Faso 2-2 Sierra Leone
Uganda 1-2 Algeria
Namibia 0-0 Tunisia
Guinea 0-1 Mozambique
Ghana 4-3 Central African Republic
Guinea-Bissau 1-1 Egypt
June 11, 2024
Madagascar 0-0 Mali
Mauritius 2-1 Eswatini
Kenya 0-0 Ivory Coast
South Sudan 0-3 Sudan
South Africa 3-1 Zimbabwe
Zambia 0-1 Tanzania
Cape Verde 1-0 Libya
Lesotho 0-1 Rwanda
Chad 0-2 Comoros
Rep Congo 0-6 Morocco
Gabon 3-2 Gambia
Angola 1-1 Cameroon
Seychelles 1-3 Burundi
Matchday 5
Wednesday March 19, 2025
Tanzania vs Congo — Postponed
Central African Republic 1-4 Madagascar
Eswatini 0-0 Cameroon
Liberia 0-1 Tunisia
Thursday March 20, 2025
Mozambique 3-1 Uganda
Cape Verde 1-0 Mauritius
Malawi 0-1 Namibia
Sierra Leone 3-1 Guinea-Bissau
Zimbabwe 2-2 Benin
Gabon 3-0 Seychelles
Gambia 3-3 Kenya
Libya 1-1 Angola
Comoros 0-3 Mali
Friday March 21, 2025
Botswana 1-3 Algeria
Equatorial Guinea 2-0 Sao Tome and Principe
Burkina Faso 4-1 Djibouti
DR Congo 1-0 South Sudan
Rwanda 0-2 Nigeria
South Africa 2-0 Lesotho
Burundi 0-1 Ivory Coast
Ghana 5-0 Chad
Ethiopia 0-2 Egypt
Guinea 0-0 Somalia
Niger 1-2 Morocco
Saturday March 22, 2025
Congo vs Zambia — Postponed
Togo 2-2 Mauritania
Sudan 0-0 Senegal
Matchday 6
Sunday March 23, 2025
Eswatini 3-3 Mauritius
Kenya 1-2 Gabon
Monday March 24, 2025
Namibia 1-1 Equatorial Guinea
Central African Republic 0-0 Mali
Guinea-Bissau 1-2 Burkina Faso
Liberia 2-1 Sao Tome and Principe
Ivory Coast 1-0 Gambia
Madagascar 0-3 Ghana
Ethiopia 6-1 Djibouti
Tunisia 2-0 Malawi
Tuesday March 25, 2025
Angola 1-2 Cape Verde
Benin 0-2 South Africa
Nigeria 1-1 Zimbabwe
Rwanda 1-1 Lesotho
Uganda 1-0 Guinea
Burundi 5-0 Seychelles
Botswana 2-0 Somalia
Cameroon 3-1 Libya
Egypt 1-0 Sierra Leone
Sudan 1-1 South Sudan
Algeria 5-1 Mozambique
Comoros 1-0 Chad
Mauritania 0-2 DR Congo
Senegal 2-0 Togo
Morocco 2-0 Tanzania
Matchday 7
September 3, 2025
Seychelles 0-4 Gabon
September 4, 2025
Chad 1-1 Ghana
Guinea-Bissau 1-1 Sierra Leone
Mauritius 0-2 Cape Verde
Sao Tome and Principe 2-3 Equatorial Guinea
Madagascar 2-0 Central African Republic
Angola 0-1 Libya
Algeria 3-1 Botswana
Cameroon 3-0 Eswatini
Mali 3-0 Comoros
Tunisia 3-0 Liberia
September 5, 2025
Kenya 1-3 Gambia
Namibia 1-2 Malawi
Somalia 0-3 Guinea
South Sudan 1-4 DR Congo
Benin 1-0 Zimbabwe
Congo 1-1 Tanzania
Uganda 4-0 Mozambique
Djibouti 0-5 Burkina Faso
Lesotho 0-3 South Africa
Senegal 2-0 Sudan
Morocco 5-0 Niger — Morocco qualify for World Cup
Mauritania 2-0 Togo
Egypt 2-0 Ethiopia
Ivory Coast 1-0 Burundi
September 6, 2025
Nigeria 1-0 Rwanda
Matchday 8
September 7, 2025
Central African Republic 0-2 Comoros
September 8, 2025
Equatorial Guinea 0-1 Tunisia
Mozambique 2-0 Botswana
Zambia 0-2 Morocco
Guinea 0-0 Algeria
Guinea-Bissau 2-0 Djibouti
Madagascar 3-1 Chad
Malawi 2-2 Liberia
Uganda 2-0 Somalia
Ghana 1-0 Mali
Libya 2-0 Eswatini
September 9, 2025
Sierra Leone 2-0 Ethiopia
Zimbabwe 0-1 Rwanda
Tanzania 0-1 Niger
Kenya 5-0 Seychelles
Namibia 3-0 Sao Tome and Principe
Burkina Faso 0-0 Egypt
Cape Verde 1-0 Cameroon
DR Congo 2-3 Senegal
South Africa 1-1 Nigeria
Togo 1-0 Sudan
Angola 3-1 Mauritius
Gabon 0-0 Ivory Coast
Gambia 2-0 Burundi
Mauritania 0-0 South Sudan
Benin 4-0 Lesotho
Matchday 9
October 8, 2025
Central African Republic 0-5 Ghana
Chad 0-2 Mali
Comoros 1-2 Madagascar
Djibouti 0-3 Egypt
Eswatini 2-2 Angola
Ethiopia 1-0 Guinea-Bissau
Libya 3-3 Cape Verde
Mauritius 0-2 Cameroon
Niger 3-1 Congo
Sierra Leone 0-1 Burkina Faso
Tanzania 0-1 Zambia
October 9, 2025
Burundi 0-1 Kenya
Botswana 0-1 Uganda
Liberia 3-1 Namibia
Malawi vs Equatorial Guinea — Postponed
Mozambique 1-2 Guinea
Somalia 0-3 Algeria
October 10, 2025
South Sudan 0-5 Senegal
Gambia 3-4 Gabon
Seychelles 0-7 Ivory Coast
Sudan 0-0 Mauritania
Togo 0-1 DR Congo
Lesotho 1-2 Nigeria
Rwanda 0-1 Benin
Sao Tome and Principe 0-6 Tunisia
Zimbabwe 0-0 South Africa
Matchday 10
October 12, 2025
Zambia 0-1 Niger
Chad 2-3 Central African Republic
Burkina Faso 3-1 Ethiopia
Djibouti 1-2 Sierra Leone
Egypt 1-0 Guinea-Bissau
Ghana 1-0 Comoros
Mali 4-1 Madagascar
October 13, 2025
South Sudan 0-0 Togo
Equatorial Guinea 1-1 Liberia
Sao Tome and Principe 1-0 Malawi
Tunisia 3-0 Namibia
Cameroon 0-0 Angola
Cape Verde 3-0 Eswatini — CAPE VERDE QUALIFY FOR WORLD CUP
Lesotho 1-0 Zimbabwe
Mauritius 0-0 Libya
October 14, 2025
Seychelles 0-7 Gambia
Algeria 2-1 Uganda
Guinea 2-2 Botswana
Nigeria 4-0 Benin
Somalia 0-1 Mozambique
South Africa 3-0 Rwanda
DR Congo 1-0 Sudan
Gabon 2-0 Burundi
Ivory Coast 3-0 Kenya
Morocco 1-0 Congo
Senegal 4-0 Mauritania
