Only half a year has passed since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar but the preparation for the next one has already begun. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup including 48 nations, an increase from 32, more teams will have a chance to compete at the pinnacle competition of international football. Hence, there has been a change in tournament qualifying formats in each confederation.
Teams from Africa got to know their faith in the qualifying draw that took place in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The 54 nations of the Confederation of African Football or CAF were divided into nine groups in the new format. The winners from these groups will earn direct qualification to the finals in USA, Canada and Mexico while the four-best group runners will enter the playoffs. From which one team will enter the FIFA playoff tournament.
The nine groups will be played in a home-and-away round-robin format with each of the top-placed sides moving to the 2026 FIFA World Cup automatically. Africa has nine direct slots in the competition with one other having a chance to qualify from the FIFA play-off tournament. The best four second-placed sides in the group will participate in the CAF qualifying playoff to determine the nation going to the playoff tournament.
The FIFA play-off tournament will feature one team from each of FIFA’s six confederations except UEFA. One additional team from CONCACAF, the host federation, will also take part. Two of the six teams will be seeded based on the FIFA rankings. Those sides will face the winners of the first two knockout games involving the four unseeded teams to make it into the finals.
