African World Cup Qualifying explained: Format, qualification spots, nations

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) qualifiers will decide which African nations will qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

A total of 54 teams enter the qualifiers at the first stage, with nine teams directly qualifying for the World Cup.

African World Cup qualification format

Due to nine CAF teams now directly qualifying instead of five, the CAF Executive Committee announced a new qualification format in 2023.

Teams are drawn into nine groups of six teams and will play each team in their group home and away in a round robin format.

Qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup commenced in November 2023 and is set to conclude in October 2025.

African World Cup qualification slots

The nine groups of six are determined by a draw, with the 54 teams split into 6 different pots.

The winner of each group will qualify directly to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Meanwhile, the four best group runners-up will advance to a play-off to determine which team will advance to their inter-confederation play-offs.

African World Cup qualification nations

All 54 teams who are members of CAF entered qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup:

• Morocco
• Senegal
• Tunisia
• Algeria
• Egypt
• Nigeria
• Cameroon
• Mali
• Ivory Coast
• Burkina Faso
• Ghana
• South Africa
• Cape Verde
• DR Congo
• Guinea
• Zambia
• Gabon
• Equatorial Guinea
• Uganda
• Benin
• Mauritania
• Kenya
• Congo
• Madagascar
• Guinea-Bissau
• Namibia
• Angola
• Mozambique
• Gambia
• Sierra Leone
• Togo
• Tanzania
• Zimbabwe
• Central African Republic
• Malawi
• Libya
• Niger
• Comoros
• Sudan
• Rwanda  
• Burundi
• Ethiopia
• Eswatini
• Botswana
• Liberia
• Lesotho
• South Sudan
• Mauritius
• Chad
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Djibouti
• Seychelles
• Eritrea
• Somalia