CAF FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: What you need to know

| Wednesday 29th May 2024, 14:23pm

Wednesday 29th May 2024, 14:23pm

With the league season done and dusted in South Africa and most leagues in Europe, the international soccer scene takes centre stage with the FIFA World Cup, CAF Qualifiers. With every team in the CAF Confederation having played 2 matches all ready, lets take this opportunity to look at who sits where in the standings.

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How does Qualification work?

The nations that form part of the CAF Federation will play their qualifiers across two rounds. The first will be contested in a group stages format, with the eight groups of six teams and one group of five teams. Group E will feature five teams due to the Eritrean National Football Federation's withdrawal from the FIFA World Cup 2026 preliminary competition. This group now has Morocco, Zambia, Congo, Tanzania and Niger remaining as participants

The Second Round of qualifiers will pit the best four runners in two one-off semi-finals, subsequently followed by a final. The winner of which will participate in the FIFA Play-off Tournament.

Group A

Egypt vs Burkino Faso Thursday 06 June 2024 21:00

Guinea-Bissau vs Ethiopia Thursday 06 June 2024 18:00

Sierra Leone vs Djibouti Wednesday 05 June 2024 18:00

Group A	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
Egypt	2	2	0	0	8	6
Burkino Faso	2	1	1	0	3	4
Guinea-Bissau	2	1	1	0	1	4
Sierra Leone	2	0	1	1	-2	1
Ethiopia	2	0	1	1	-3	1
Djibouti	2	0	0	2	-7	0

The Schedule

These are the dates to remember during the course of this CAF Qualification period for the 2026 FIFA World Cup;

15 - 21 November 2023, match days one and two were played
3 - 11 June 2024, Match days Three and Four are scheduled to be played (We are here)
17 - 25 March 2025, Match days Five and Six are scheduled to be played
1 - 9 September 2025, Match days Seven and Eight schedule to be played
6 - 14 October 2025, Match days Nine and Ten are scheduled to played
10 - 18 November 2025, CAF Play-off tournament is scheduled to take place.

Group B

Senegal vs DR Congo Thursday 06 June 2024 21:00

Mauritania vs Sudan Thursday 06 June 2024 18:00

Togo vs South Sudan Wednesday 05 June 2024 18:00

Group B	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
Senegal	2	1	1	0	4	4
Sudan	2	1	1	0	1	4
DR Congo	2	1	0	1	1	3
Togo	2	0	2	0	0	2
Mauritania	2	0	1	1	-2	1
South Sudan	2	0	1	1	-4	1

FIFA Play-Off Tournament

The FIFA Play-off tournament will see six sides play each other for the two remaining places at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.The six teams will comprise:

Two Teams from Concacaf
One Team from AFC
One Team from CAF
One Team from CONMEBOL
One Team from OFC

The four lowest-ranked nations will meet in the bracket semi-finals. The two highest ranked teams will go directly into he finals with he winners of the two bracket final qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Group C

Benin vs Rwanda Thursday 06 June 2024 21:00

Nigeria vs South Africa Friday 07 June 2024 18:00

Zimbabwe vs Lesotho Friday 07 June 2024 15:00

Group C	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
Rwanda	2	1	1	0	2	4
South Africa	2	1	0	1	-1	3
Nigeria	2	0	2	0	0	2
Lesotho	2	0	2	0	0	2
Zimbabwe	2	0	2	0	0	2
Benin	2	0	1	1	-1	1

FIFA World Cup Appearances

Africa has had its fair share of African teams participating in the FIFA World Cup. South Africa still remains the only African Nation to host the historic tournament. However, with the tournament taking on a new format and with CAF's rise in quality and delivery of the continental competition. Africans can expect this tournament to visit the African Continent again soon. When it comes to teams that have represented Africa on the world stage. Below is a list starting from highest number of appearances to lowest number of appearances.

8 - Cameroon
6 - Morocco
6 - Nigeria
6 - Tunisia
4 - Ghana
4 - Algeria
3 - Senegal
3 - Egypt
3 - South Africa
3 - Cote d'Ivoire
1 - DR Congo
1 - Angola
1 - Togo

Group D

Angola vs Eswatini Friday 07 June 2024 18:00

Cameroon vs Cape Verde Saturday 08 June 2024 15:00

Libya vs Mauritius Thursday 06 June 2024 18:00

Group D	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
Cameroon	2	1	1	0	3	4
Cape Verde	2	1	1	0	2	4
Libya	2	1	1	0	1	4
Angola	2	0	2	0	0	2
Mauritius	2	0	1	1	-3	1
Eswatini	2	0	0	2	-3	0

Best finish by an African Side

The Atlas Lions became the first African side to reach the semifinals for the FIFA World Cup in 2022. They did so after an impressive run in the tournament that began with them topping a group, that had Croatia, Belgium and Canada. The tournament started with a draw against Croatia, followed by a 2-0 win against Belgium and 2-1 win against Canada. The difficult fixtures continued in the knock out phases where they knocked out the 2010 winners Spain. they followed this up with a win against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal. That game would see them edge the result by a single goal. This result would set up a show down the Semi Finals against holding champions France. Despite their best efforts, they fell short against the French and lost by two goals to nil. The Third place play off would go the way of Croatia who collected the bronze medal which meant that the African's came home fourth place finishers in the tournament.

Group E

Congo Republic vs Niger Thursday 06 June 2024 18:00

Morocco vs Zambia Friday 07 June 2024 21:00