The 2026 World Cup Qualifiers for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) started on November 13 with two games already played.
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup having an increased 48 teams in the running, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), which previously had only five slots, will now have nine direct slots and one additional slot for the 10th team which will play in the inter-confederation play-offs.
A total of 54 teams were initially drawn into 9 Groups but now that Eritrea has pulled out of the tournament, 53 teams will be competing for the 10 slots from Africa.
Group Stage: These teams will play a home and an away game with each of its group member and in the end the top team in each group will qualify directly for the World Cup filling up nine slots already.
Play-offs: The four best second placed teams from all the groups will then be drawn into a mini-tournament with two semi-finals and final, and the winner will be the representative of CAF in the inter-conference play-offs.
Inter-confederation playoffs: The one qualified team from CAF will play in another mini-tournament with the one team each from CONMEBOL, AFC, OFC and two teams from CONCACAF. The two top teams from this tournament will fill the final slots of the 2026 World Cup.