African (CAF) 2026 World Cup qualifying schedule, results, table (2024)

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Well, technically it’s already down to 53, as Eritrea has withdrawn from qualification, but we’ll lay out the schedule, standings, and more in this post.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.

Premier League players in African (CAF) 2026 World Cup qualification

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 sem*nyo (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)

African (CAF) 2026 World Cup qualification format

First round (Nov. 15, 2023 - Oct. 14 2025): 54 teams, nine groups, top team from each group qualifies for World Cup, four best runners-up go to playoff semifinals
Second round (Nov. 10-18, 2025): Four best group runners-up stage semifinal, final. Winner plays inter-confederation playoff.

African (CAF) World Cup qualification schedule — First round fixtures

Matchday 4

June 10

Somalia 1-3 Botswana
Benin 2-1 Nigeria
Sao Tome and Principe 0-1 Liberia
Djibouti 1-1 Ethiopia
DR Congo 1-0 Togo
Mauritania 0-1 Senegal
Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Malawi
Burkina Faso 2-2 Sierra Leone
Uganda 1-2 Algeria
Namibia 0-0 Tunisia
Guinea 0-1 Mozambique
Ghana 4-3 Central African Republic
Guinea-Bissau 1-1 Egypt

June 11

Madagascar 0-0 Mali
Mauritius 2-1 Eswatini
Kenya 0-0 Ivory Coast
South Sudan 0-3 Sudan
South Africa 3-1 Zimbabwe
Zambia 0-1 Tanzania
Cape Verde 1-0 Libya
Lesotho 0-1 Rwanda
Chad 0-2 Comoros
Rep Congo 0-6 Morocco
Gabon 3-2 Gambia
Angola 1-1 Cameroon
Seychelles1-3 Burundi

African (CAF) 2026 World Cup qualification — Standings/table

Group A

Egypt — 3-1-0 — +9 GD — 10 points
Guinea-Bissau — 1-3-0 — +1 GD — 6 points
Burkina Faso — 1-2-1 — +2 GD — 5 point
Sierra Leone — 1-2-1 — -1 GD — 5 points
Ethiopia — 0-3-1 — -3 GD — 3 points
Djibouti — 0-1-3 — -8 GD — 1 point

Group B

Sudan — 3-1-0 — +6 GD — 10 points
Senegal — 2-2-0 — +5 GD — 8 points
Democratic Republic of Congo — 2-1-1 — +2 GD — 7 points
Togo — 0-3-1 — -1 GD — 3 points
South Sudan — 0-2-2 — -7 GD — 2 points
Mauritania — 0-1-3 — -4 GD — 1 point

Group C

Rwanda — 2-1-1— +2 GD — 7 points
Benin — 2-1-1 — +1 GD — 7 points
South Africa — 2-1-1— +1 GD — 7 points
Lesotho — 1-2-1 — +1 GD — 5 points
Nigeria — 0-3-1 — -1 GD — 3 points
Zimbabwe — 0-2-2 — -4 GD — 2 points

Group D

Cameroon — 2-2-0 — +6 GD — 8 points
Libya — 2-1-1 — +1 GD — 7 points
Cape Verde — 2-1-1 — 0 GD — 7 points
Angola — 1-3-0 — +1 GD — 6 points
Mauritius — 1-1-2 — -3 GD — 4 points
Eswatini — 0-0-4— -5 GD — 0 points

Group E

Morocco — 3-0-0 — +9 GD — 9 points
Tanzania — 2-0-1 — 0 GD — 6 points
Niger — 1-0-1 — 0 GD — 3 points
Zambia — 1-0-3 — 0 GD — 3 points
Republic of Congo — 0-0-2 — -8 GD — 0 points
Eritrea — withdrew

Group F

Ivory Coast — 3-1-0 — +12 GD — 10 points
Gabon — 3-0-1 — +2 GD — 9 points
Burundi — 2-1-1 — +2 GD — 7 points
Kenya — 1-2-1 — +4 GD — 5 points
Gambia — 1-0-3 — 0 GD — 3 points
Seychelles — 0-0-4 — -20 GD — 0 points

Group G

Algeria — 3-0-1 — +4 GD — 9 points
Mozambique — 3-0-1 — +1 GD — 9 points
Botswana — 2-0-2 — +1 GD — 6 points
Guinea — 2-0-2 — 0 GD — 6 points
Uganda — 2-0-2 — 01 GD — 6 points
Somalia — 0-0-4 — -6 GD — 0 points

Group H

Tunisia — 3-1-0 — +6 GD — 10 points
Namibia — 2-2-0 — +5 GD — 8 points
Liberia — 2-1-1 — +3 GD — 7 points
Malawi — 2-0-2 — +1 GD — 6 points
Equatorial Guinea — 1-0-3 — -6 GD — 3 points
Sao Tome and Principe — 0-0-4 — -9 GD — 0 points

Group I

Comoros — 3-0-1 — +4 GD — 9 points
Ghana — 3-0-1 — +2 GD — 9 points
Madagascar — 2-1-1 — +3 GD — 7 points
Mali — 1-2-1 — +1 GD — 5 points
Central African Republic — 1-1-2 — -2 GD — 4 points
Chad — 0-0-4 — -8 GD — 0 points

African (CAF) World Cup qualification schedule — First round results

Matchday 1

Wednesday, November 15

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

Matchday 2

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 2-1 Mauritius
Mali 1-2 Ghana
Kenya 1-1 Burundi
Gambia 5-1 Seychelles
Angola 1-0 Eswatini
Namibia 1-1 Liberia
Morocco 2-1 Zambia
Senegal 1-1 DR Congo
Benin 1-0 Rwanda
Ivory Coast 1-0 Gabon
Tunisia 1-0 Equatorial Guinea
Sierra Leone 2-1 Djibouti
Egypt 2-1 Burkina Faso
Malawi 3-1 Sao Tome and Principe
Mauritania 0-2 Sudan
Central African Republic 1-0 Chad
Rep Congo vs Niger — postponed
Togo 1-1 South Sudan
Zimbabwe 0-2 Lesotho
Mozambique 2-1 Somalia
Madagascar 2-1 Comoros
Guinea-Bissau 0-0 Ethiopia
Nigeria 1-1 South Africa
Uganda 1-0 Botswana
Cameroon 4-1 Cape Verde
Algeria 1-0 Guinea

June 10
Somalia 1-3 Botswana
Benin 2-1 Nigeria

Sao Tome and Principe 0-1 Liberia

Djibouti 1-1 Ethiopia

DR Congo 1-0 Togo

Mauritania 0-1 Senegal

Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Malawi

Burkina Faso 2-2 Sierra Leone

Uganda 1-2 Algeria

Namibia 0-0 Tunisia

Guinea 0-1 Mozambique

Ghana 4-3 Central African Republic

Guinea-Bissau 1-1 Egypt

June 11

Madagascar vs Mali — 9am ET

Mauritius vs Eswatini — 9am ET

Kenya vs Ivory Coast — 9am ET

South Sudan vs Sudan — 9am ET

South Africa vs Zimbabwe — Noon ET

Zambia vs Tanzania — Noon ET

Cape Verde vs Libya — Noon ET

Lesotho vs Rwanda — Noon ET

Chad vs Comoros — Noon ET

Rep Congo vs Morocco — 3pm ET

Gabon vs Gambia — 3pm ET

Angola vs Cameroon — 3pm ET

Seychelles vs Burundi — 3pm ET