The 54 nations of CAF have learned their qualification route for the next World Cup.
- The CAF qualifying draw for the FIFA World Cup 26 has now been made
- Nine group winners will automatically qualify for the finals, one team will enter the FIFA play-off tournament
- Qualification campaign begins on 13 November 2023
The CAF draw for FIFA World Cup 26 to determine the African qualification groups has taken place in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Uganda Cranes have been pitted in Group G of the 2026 FIFA World Cup for Africa in the draws conducted on Thursday on the sidelines of the 45th CAF Congress in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Uganda was placed in Pot 3 prior to the draws and the lots made by former Nigerian midfielder Jay Jay Okocha confirmed the Group where the Cranes will play as G.
The same group has Algeria who coincidentally are Uganda’s opponents in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers.
The other teams in the same Group include Guinea, Mozambique, Botswana and Somalia.
The winner of each group will directly qualify to the World Cup, while the four best group runners-up will participate in play-offs to determine which team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will see participation of teams increase from the current 32 to 48 which also consequently leads the increase in number of teams from CAF (Africa) from 5 to 9 or possibly 10 depending on the outcome of the intercontinental playoffs.
Meanwhile, Qatar 22 semi-finalists Morocco will face Zambia, Congo, Tanzania, Niger and Eritrea on the road to FIFA World Cup 26 after being drawn in Group E.
Senegal, who were beaten by England in the Round of 16 at the most recent edition, are in Group B and will tackle Congo DR, Mauritania, Togo, Sudan and South Sudan.
Group C features both Nigeria and 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa, along with Benin, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Lesotho.
FIFA World Cup 26 Preliminary Draw – CAF
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, Cabo Verde, Angola, Libya ,Eswatini, Mauritius
Group E
Morocco, Zambia, Congo, Tanzania, Niger, Eritrea
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, São Tomé and Príncipe
Group I
Mali, Ghana, Madagascar, Central, African Republic, Comoros, Chad
How does qualifying work?
The nine groups will play in a home and away, round-robin, format with each of the group winners qualifying automatically for the FIFA World Cup 26™ .
The four best group runners-up will then compete in a play-off stage to determine CAF’s representative at the FIFA play-off tournament.
The FIFA play-off tournament will feature one team from each of FIFA’s six confederations, except UEFA, plus one additional team from the host confederation (Concacaf).
Two of the six teams will be seeded based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. The seeded teams will play for a FIFA World Cup berth against the winners of the first two knockout games involving the four unseeded teams.
When are the qualifying matches?
They will take place over ten matchdays during the next two years:
13-21 November 2023 3-11 June 2024 17-25 March 2025 1-9 September 2025 6-14 October 2025 10-18 November 2025 (Play-offs)
