David GOMBE
The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying draw will take place on Thursday at the CAF 45th Ordinary General Assembly in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
At the World Cup qualification draw, the member Associations of CAF will be divided into nine Groups.
Winners of each Group will automatically qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026 that will be co- hosted by USA, Mexico and Canada.
The four best runners-up (from the Groups) will play in a CAF Play-Off tournament.
The eventual winners of the CAF Play-Off Tournament will play in the FIFA Play-off Tournament.
In 2017, the FIFA Council unanimously decided to expand the world cup, starting with the 2026 edition by sixteen teams from 32 to 48.
Uganda who have never progressed to the showpiece are in pot 3 while African giants Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal, Algeria are in Pot 1.
Meanwhile at the event former African stars like Senegal’s Elhadji Diouf, Cote d’Ivoire’s Didier Drogba, Togo’s Emmanuel Adebayor, Jay Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Alexandre Song (Cameroon), Wael Gomaa (Egypt), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Khalilou Fadiga (Senegal), Geremi Njitap (Cameroon), Houssine Kharja (Morocco), and Youri Djorkaeff (France) are expected to be present at the event.
The Pots
Pot 1: Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, Cameroon, Mali, Egypt, Ivory Coast
Pot 2: Ghana, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Guinea, Zambia, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea
Pot 3: Angola, Benin, Kenya, Mauritania, Congo, Uganda, Madagascar, Guinea Bissau, Namibia.Pot 4: Mozambique, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Malawi, Libya
Pot 5: Niger, Comoros, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Botswana, Liberia
Pot 6: Lesotho, South Sudan, Mauritius, Chad, Sao Tome, Djibouti, Seychelles, Eritrea, Somalia
