Nigeria and South Africa have been drawn in the identical World Cup qualifying group on Thursday in a re-shaped African competitors that can result in at the least 9 groups on the 2026 showpiece within the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The enlarged 48-team World Cup in three years’ time means Africa’s locations are up from 5 to 9, with the potential of a tenth African group making it by means of an inter-continental playoff.
In the brand new African format, simply the winners of the 9 six-team teams are assured a spot on the World Cup. The 4 greatest second-place groups enter African playoffs and the one which comes by means of these makes it to an inter-continental mini-tournament, the place the 2 closing groups on the World Cup shall be determined.
World Cup semifinalist Morocco, the primary African or Arab group to make the final 4 after its shocking run in Qatar final yr, is in a gaggle the place its sternest checks will probably come from 2012 African champion Zambia and Niger.
The African qualifiers shall be performed from November to October 2025.
Benin, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Lesotho are the opposite groups in Group C with Nigeria and South Africa. Zimbabwe was included within the draw after FIFA lifted a global ban on the nation on Tuesday. Zimbabwe was suspended in February 2022 due to authorities interference in its soccer federation.
Morocco, Zambia and Niger are in Group E with Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Eritrea, which is ranked 200 out of FIFA’s 211 groups.
The draw adopted the Confederation of African Football’s basic meeting in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, the West African nation that can host the subsequent African Cup of Nations in January-February.
Defending African champion Senegal will play Congo, Mauritania, Togo, Sudan and South Sudan in Group B. The Sudanese neighbors will play one another in World Cup qualifying having break up into unbiased states in 2011 after a long time of civil conflict.
Egypt is in Group A and is predicted to be pushed by Burkina Faso for the qualifying place there. Egypt performed on the 2018 World Cup in Russia after an 18-year absence however missed Qatar.
Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Cameroon and Ghana have been the 5 groups from Africa to qualify for the World Cup final yr. While Morocco made historical past to get to the semis, Senegal misplaced within the final 16 and the opposite three didn’t get previous the group stage.
Ghana faces a tricky qualifying path in Group I towards Mali, Madagascar, Central African Republic, Chad and Comoros, the tiny island archipelago that beat the Ghanaians within the group stage of the final African Cup and despatched them to an early and embarrassing elimination.
Tunisia is with Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, Malawi, Liberia and Sao Tome and Principe in Group H.
Cameroon faces Cape Verde, Angola, Libya, Eswatini and Mauritius in Group D.
Algeria is with Guinea, Uganda, Mozambique, Botswana and Somalia in Group G.
At CAF’s basic meeting, FIFA president Gianni Infantino introduced a brand new African Football League that includes eight golf equipment from throughout the continent would kick off on Oct. 20.
The African league was meant to be launched in August with 24 groups and prize cash of $100 million however was delayed and has been decreased to a a lot smaller competitors.
Infantino stated it could ultimately evolve right into a “big version” however didn’t give any particulars on which golf equipment would initially participate or if it could nonetheless be the richest event in Africa, as CAF president Patrice Motsepe promised eventually yr’s basic meeting in Tanzania.
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