CAF Announces Details for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Draw
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has released information regarding the draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. In an official statement, CAF confirmed that the draw will take place in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire on Thursday, 13 July.
The draw will be broadcast live on CAF’s digital platforms and CAFONLINE.com at 15:00 GMT (17:00 CAT), following the 45th CAF Ordinary Assembly also held in Abidjan.
The Member Associations of CAF will be divided into nine groups for the draw. The winners of each group will secure automatic qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Additionally, the four best runners-up from the groups will compete in a CAF Play-Off tournament. The winner of the CAF Play-Off Tournament will advance to the FIFA Play-Off Tournament.
Zimbabwe Included in the Qualifiers Zimbabwe will participate in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers draw for Africa, as FIFA lifted the international ban on the country on Monday.
The ban was imposed in February last year due to third-party interference after the suspension of the ZIFA executive. With the ban now lifted, Zimbabwe can look forward to competing in the qualifiers.
Seeding and Draw Procedure The draw will feature six pots based on the June FIFA ranking. Zimbabwe has been placed in Pot 4 alongside Mozambique, Togo, Libya, Central African Republic, Malawi, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and Gambia.
The draw will assign teams into nine groups, with each group consisting of six teams. The teams will compete in a home-and-away round-robin format from November 2023 to October 2025.