10 SLOTS FOR AFRICA

…as CAF approves FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers calendar

THE Confederation of African Football (CAF) has approved the qualifying calender for the 2026 FIFA World Cup which will feature 10 African countries and will be co-hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico.

The Executive Committee (EXCO) of CAF on Thursday held a meeting, chaired by President

Dr Patrice Motsepe, in Algiers, the Algerian capital.

According to a statement issued by CAFafter the meeting, 54 nations will take part in the qualifiers in the Africa zone which will be divided into nine groups comprising six teams each.

“The Executive Committee approved the format, dates of the qualifiers. The new format has been adapted in line with FIFA’s expanded FIFA World Cup format and will involve all the 54 member associations of CAF who will be divided into nine groups,” CAF said.

“Winners of each rroup will automatically qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026. The four best runners-up (from the groups) will play in a CAF play-off tournament. The winner (CAF play-off tournament) will play in the FIFA play-off tournament.”

The Executive Committee announced that the official draw of the FIFA World Cup 2026 African qualifiers will be on Wednesday July 12 2023 in Cotonou, Benin – the night before the 45th CAF ordinary general assembly.

The World Cup qualifiers for the CAF zone are scheduled to start in November this year and will run up to November 2025.

Meanwhile, CAF has announced that the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Ivory Coast 2023 final draw will be conducted on October 12.

CAF has also announced Ivory Coast as the next host country of the CAF Women’s Champions League 2023.