A record nine teams will qualify for the 2026 World Cup, and 10 is a possibility as the 54 nations of CAF begin their battle for places in the North American-based tournament.
Well, technically it’s already down to 53, as Eritrea has withdrawn from qualification, but we’ll lay out the schedule, standings, and more in this post.
[ MORE: How will 48-team 2026 World Cup work? ]
There are stars from around world soccer in CAF, including dozens of Premier League players like Manchester United’s Andre Onana, West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus, Tottenham’s Yves Bissouma, and a trio of Nottingham Forest stars on the Ivory Coast.
Competition will be fierce with only one guaranteed spot available to Mali and Ghana (Group I), Nigeria and South Africa (Group C), and Senegal and DR Congo (Group B). The first two matchdays are in the books, and the third will wait for the summer.
Here’s everything you need to know for African World Cup qualifying.
Algeria: Rayan Ait-Nouri (Wolves)
Benin: Halid Djankpata (Everton)
Burkina Faso: Dango Ouattara (Bournemouth)
Cameroon: Andre Onana (Manchester United), Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford), Carlos Baleba (Brighton)
Dem Rep of Congo: Yoane Wissa (Brentford)
Egypt: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal)
Equatorial Guinea: Basilio Rieno (Burnley)
Gabon: Mario Lemina (Wolves)
Ghana: Tariq Lamptey (Brighton), Mohammed Kudus (West Ham), Thomas Partey (Arsenal), Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace), Antoine Semenyo (Bournemouth), Jeff Schlupp (Crystal Palace)
Ivory Coast: Willy Boly (Nottingham Forest), Ibrahim Sangare (Nottingham Forest), Hamed Traore (Bournemouth), Simon Adingra (Brighton), Amad Diallo (Manchester United), Maxwel Cornet (West Ham)
Mali: Yves Bissouma (Tottenham), Cheick Doucoure (Crystal Palace), Ismaila Coulibaly (Sheffield United), Boubacar Traore (Wolves)
Morocco: Nayef Aguerd (West Ham), Sofyan Amrabat (Manchester United), Anass Zaroury (Burnley)
Nigeria: Calvin Bassey (Fulham), Alex Iwobi (Fulham), Frank Onyeka (Brentford)
Senegal: Moussa Niakhate (Nottingham Forest), Idrissa Gana Gueye (Everton), Cheikhou Kouyate (Nottingham Forest), Pape Sarr (Tottenham), Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea)
South Africa: Lyle Foster (Burnley)
Tunisia: Hannibal Mejbri (Manchester United), Anis Ben Slimane (Sheffield United), Samy Chouchane (Brighton)
Zimbabwe: Admiral Muskwe (Luton Town)
Matchday 3
June 3
Libya vs Mauritius
Mali vs Ghana
Kenya vs Burundi
Gambia vs Seychelles
Angola vs Eswatini
Namibia vs Liberia
Morocco vs Zambia
Senegal vs DR Congo
Benin vs Rwanda
Ivory Coast vs Gabon
Tunisia vs Equatorial Guinea
Sierra Leone vs Djibouti
Egypt vs Burkina Faso
Malawi vs Sao Tome and Principe
Mauritania vs Sudan
Central African Republic vs Chad
Rep Congo vs Niger
Togo vs South Sudan
Zimbabwe vs Lesotho
Mozambique vs Somalia
Madagascar vs Comoros
Guinea-Bissau vs Ethiopia
Nigeria vs South Africa
Uganda vs Botswana
Cameroon vs Cape Verde
Algeria vs Guinea
June 10
Somalia vs Botswana
Seychelles vs Burundi
Madagascar vs Mali
Benin vs Nigeria
Sao Tome and Principe vs Liberia
Djibouti vs Ethiopia
Chad vs Comoros
Angola vs Cameroon
Kenya vs Ivory Coast
South Sudan vs Sudan
DR Congo vs Togo
Mauritania vs Senegal
Equatorial Guinea vs Malawi
Lesotho vs Rwanda
Gabon vs Gambia
Burkina Faso vs Sierra Leone
Cape Verde vs Libya
Uganda vs Algeria
Rep Congo vs Morocco
Mauritius vs Eswatini
Zambia vs Tanzania
Namibia vs Tunisia
Guinea vs Mozambique
South Africa vs Zimbabwe
Ghana vs Central African Republic
Guinea-Bissau vs Egypt
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Group I
Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Namibia
Rwanda 0-0 Zimbabwe
DR Congo 2-0 Mauritania
Ethiopia 0-0 Sierra Leone
Thursday, November 16
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
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
South Africa 2-1 Benin
Niger 0-1 Tanzania
Senegal 4-0 South Sudan
Sunday, November 19
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
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
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
Libya vs Mauritius
Mali vs Ghana
Kenya vs Burundi
Gambia vs Seychelles
Angola vs Eswatini
Namibia vs Liberia
Morocco vs Zambia
Senegal vs DR Congo
Benin vs Rwanda
Ivory Coast vs Gabon
Tunisia vs Equatorial Guinea
Sierra Leone vs Djibouti
Egypt vs Burkina Faso
Malawi vs Sao Tome and Principe
Mauritania vs Sudan
Central African Republic vs Chad
Rep Congo vs Niger
Togo vs South Sudan
Zimbabwe vs Lesotho
Mozambique vs Somalia
Madagascar vs Comoros
Guinea-Bissau vs Ethiopia
Nigeria vs South Africa
Uganda vs Botswana
Cameroon vs Cape Verde
Algeria vs Guinea
June 10
Somalia vs Botswana
Seychelles vs Burundi
Madagascar vs Mali
Benin vs Nigeria
Sao Tome and Principe vs Liberia
Djibouti vs Ethiopia
Chad vs Comoros
Angola vs Cameroon
Kenya vs Ivory Coast
South Sudan vs Sudan
DR Congo vs Togo
Mauritania vs Senegal
Equatorial Guinea vs Malawi
Lesotho vs Rwanda
Gabon vs Gambia
Burkina Faso vs Sierra Leone
Cape Verde vs Libya
Uganda vs Algeria
Rep Congo vs Morocco
Mauritius vs Eswatini
Zambia vs Tanzania
Namibia vs Tunisia
Guinea vs Mozambique
South Africa vs Zimbabwe
Ghana vs Central African Republic
Guinea-Bissau vs Egypt
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