The seeding groups for the African region in qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup with the continent’s national teams grouped into six pots ahead of the July 13 draw in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The June FIFA rankings were used to determine which pot each African national team was grouped into. For the next men’s World Cup hosted in the United States, Mexico and Canada there will be nine groups with six teams each with the group winners qualifying for the finals. A tenth team will be determined by a four-team playoff composed of the four best runners-up.
Below are the six pots:
Pot 1: Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali, Ivory Coast
Pot 2: Burkina Faso, Ghana, South Africa, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Guinea, Zambia, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea
Pot 3: Uganda, Benin, Kenya, Mauritania, Congo, Madagascar, Guinea Bissau, Namibia, Angola
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
FIFA World Cup qualifying will start with the first two matchdays set to take place November 13 through November 21.
