Posted March 18, 20232 yr The World Cup may have just ended but qualification for 2026 is set the start again this year. There's been plenty of news regarding qualifying recently so I thought I'd start a thread. Nothing starting soon but I'm going to follow qualification from start to finish. The 48 teams will consist of: Asia - 8 Qualifiers and 1 Play-Off Africa - 9 Qualifiers and 1 Play-Off North America - 3 Hosts, 3 Qualifiers and 2 Play-Offs South America - 6 Qualifiers and 1 Play-Off Oceania - 1 Qualifier & 1 Play-Off Europe - 16 Qualifiers I'll give an overview of what's been confirmed for each Confederation's schedule in the following posts.
March 18, 20232 yr Author African Qualification The African Qualification will consist of 2 stages. 9 teams will qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 1 team will qualify for the Intercontinental Play-Offs. Round 1 - The 54 teams will be drawn into 9 groups of 6 teams who will play home-and-away round robin fixtures with the 9 group winners qualifying directly to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.. The 4 best runner-ups with qualify for Round 2. Matches will be played on 13th November 2023 and 14th October 2025. Round 2 - The 4 teams will be drawn into 2 one-legged Semi-Final Play-Off ties with the 2 winners meeting each other in the Play-Off Final. The winner will qualify for the Intercontinental Play-Offs. Matches will be played between 10th - 18th November 2025.
March 18, 20232 yr Author Intercontinental Play-Offs The Intercontinental Play-Offs will consist of 6 teams (2 from North America, 1 from South America, 1 from Africa, 1 from Oceania and 1 from Asia). The tournament will be played in USA/Canada/Mexico and will work as a test event for the tournament. The two highest-ranked teams will qualify for the finals. The four lowest ranked teams will enter the semi-finals. They will be drawn into 2 ties. The winner of each semi-final will be drawn against one of the two highest ranked teams in the final. The two winners of the finals will qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
July 13, 20231 yr Author The draw for the African qualification groups was completed today in the Ivory Coast. The top team from each group will qualify directly and the 4-best runner-ups will form a play-off with the winner becoming the continent's representation in the Inter-Continental Play-Offs. The first matches are in November this year Group A Egypt Burkina Faso Guinea-Bissau Sierra Leonne Ethiopia Djibouti Group B Senegal DR Congo Mauritiana Togo Sudan South Sudan Group C Nigeria South Africa Benin Zimbabwe Rwanda Lesotho Group D Cameroon Cape Verde Angola Libya Eswatini Mauritius Group E Morocco Zambia Congo Tanzania Niger Eritrea Group F Ivory Coast Gabon Kenya Gambia Burundi Seychelles Group G Algeria Guinea Uganda Mozambique Botswana Somalia Group H Tunisia Equatorial Guinea Namibia Malawi Liberia São Tomé and Príncipe Group I Mali Ghana Madagascar Central African Republic Comoros Chad I feel a bit sorry for Mali putting all that work in to become a top seed and then still getting Ghana in your group :lol: Also, please can one of the mods please separate all of my earlier posts into different threads for each continent as I think it will end up messy if we have everything in this thread.
July 13, 20231 yr Done! I'll just bump the threads now for easy access ^_^ I was hoping that maybe there'd be a group containig no previous qualifiers to guarantee a new country in the tournament but sadly not - still time for an upset though!
July 13, 20231 yr Author Done! I'll just bump the threads now for easy access ^_^ I was hoping that maybe there'd be a group containig no previous qualifiers to guarantee a new country in the tournament but sadly not - still time for an upset though! Thanks Pete :D Being in Pot 1, Mali felt like the best shot at a 1st time qualifier but they’ve got the one team from Pot 2 they’d have wanted to avoid the most.
July 18, 20231 yr There's still a chance, Ghana haven't been the same Ghana for years but in big games, you still would have to give them the edge over Mali until they prove it. Also, having that trio of Madagascar, Comoros, and Central African Republic is not easy, all traditionally tough places to go on the road and get 3 points. Could make a muck of things for the top two. Burkina Faso is trouble for Egypt though. Also, don't discount Cape Verde, who've held their own in recent years against Cameroon, often times paired with them in qualifying groups and African Cups. However, they're just way too inconsistent. They could go out and beat Cameroon 3-1 one day and then lose to Eswatini 0-2 the next. I don't really see any of the other top teams struggling, but you never know what surprises await. Edited July 18, 20231 yr by DJHazey
November 1, 20231 yr Groups - Round 1 with NOV 2023 FIFA Rankings Group A Egypt - 35 Burkina Faso - 56 Guinea-Bissau - 110 Sierra Leonne - 122 Ethiopia - 143 Djibouti - 189 Group B Senegal - 20 DR Congo - 65 Mauritiana - 101 Togo - 119 Sudan - 130 South Sudan - 167 Group C Nigeria - 40 South Africa - 64 Benin - 92 Zimbabwe - 125 Rwanda - 140 Lesotho - 153 Group D Cameroon - 43 Cape Verde - 74 Angola - 116 Libya - 126 Eswatini - 146 Mauritius - 177 Group E Morocco - 13 Zambia - 81 Congo - 106 Tanzania - 121 Niger - 129 Eritrea - NR Group F Ivory Coast - 52 Gabon - 86 Kenya - 110 Gambia - 117 Burundi - 142 Seychelles - 195 Group G Algeria - 33 Guinea - 80 Uganda - 90 Mozambique - 113 Botswana - 148 Somalia - 196 Group H Tunisia - 32 Equatorial Guinea - 91 Namibia - 114 Malawi - 123 Liberia - 151 São Tomé and Príncipe - 186 Group I Mali - 47 Ghana - 60 Madagascar - 108 Central African Republic - 127 Comoros - 128 Chad - 179 November Calendar - Opening Matches A - Nov 15 - Ethiopia vs. Sierra Leone [played in Morocco] A - Nov 16 - Egypt vs. Djibouti A - Nov 17 - Burkina Faso vs. Guinea-Bissau [played in Morocco] A - Nov 19 - Sierra Leone vs. Egypt A - Nov 20 - Djibouti vs. Guinea-Bissau [played in Egypt] A - Nov 21 - Ethiopia vs. Burkina Faso [played in Morocco] B - Nov 15 - Congo DR vs. Mauritania B - Nov 16 - Sudan vs. Togo [played in Libya] B - Nov 18 - Senegal vs. South Sudan B - Nov 19 - Sudan vs. Congo DR [played in Libya] B - Nov 21 - South Sudan vs. Mauritania [played in Senegal] B - Nov 21 - Togo vs. Senegal C - Nov 15 - Rwanda vs. Zimbabwe C - Nov 16 - Nigeria vs. Lesotho C - Nov 18 - South Africa vs. Benin C - Nov 19 - Zimbabwe vs. Nigeria [played in Rwanda] C - Nov 21 - Lesotho vs. Benin [played in South Africa] C - Nov 21 - Rwanda vs. South Africa D - Nov 16 - Cape Verde Islands vs. Angola D - Nov 17 - Cameroon vs. Mauritius D - Nov 17 - Eswatini vs. Libya [played in South Africa] D - Nov 20 - Mauritius vs. Angola D - Nov 21 - Libya vs. Cameroon D - Nov 21 - Eswatini vs. Cape Verde Islands [played in South Africa] E - Nov 16 - Morocco vs. Eritrea E - Nov 17 - Zambia vs. Congo E - Nov 18 - Niger vs. Tanzania [played in Morocco] E - Nov 20 - Eritrea vs. Congo [played in Morocco] E - Nov 21 - Tanzania vs. Morocco E - Nov 21 - Niger vs. Zambia [played in Morocco] F - Nov 16 - Gabon vs. Kenya F - Nov 16 - Burundi vs. Gambia [played in Tanzania] F - Nov 17 - Ivory Coast vs. Seychelles F - Nov 19 - Burundi vs. Gabon [played in Tanzania] F - Nov 20 - Gambia vs. Ivory Coast [played in Tanzania] F - Nov 20 - Seychelles vs. Kenya [played in Ivory Coast] G - Nov 16 - Algeria vs. Somalia [played in Mali] G - Nov 16 - Botswana vs. Mozambique G - Nov 17 - Guinea vs. Uganda [played in Morocco] G - Nov 19 - Mozambique vs. Algeria G - Nov 21 - Botswana vs. Guinea G - Nov 21 - Somalia vs. Uganda [played in Morocco] H - Nov 15 - Equatorial Guinea vs. Namibia H - Nov 17 - Tunisia vs. Sao Tome H - Nov 17 - Liberia vs. Malawi H - Nov 20 - Liberia vs. Equatorial Guinea H - Nov 21 - Malawi vs. Tunisia H - Nov 21 - Sao Tome vs. Namibia [played in Morocco] I - Nov 17 - Ghana vs. Madagascar I - Nov 17 - Mali vs. Chad I - Nov 17 - Comoros vs. Central African Republic I - Nov 20 - Chad vs. Madagascar [played in Morocco] I - Nov 20 - Central African Republic vs. Mali [played in Comoros] I - Nov 20 - Comoros vs. Ghana Edited November 2, 20231 yr by DJHazey
November 11, 20231 yr Author Unfortunately, Eritrea have pulled out of World Cup qualifying leaving Group E with just 5 teams and meaning their games vs Morocco and Congo set for this month have been cancelled.
November 11, 20231 yr That's unfortunate - but can't be too unexpected given how long they've not played an international match for (and of course Eritrea being a difficult country to live in).
November 16, 20231 yr Author The opening 4 matches of African qualifying took place last night. Matchday 1 - Wednesday Group A Ethiopia 0-0 Sierra Leone Group B DR Congo 2-0 Mauritania Group C Rwanda 0-0 Zimbabwe Group H Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Namibia If you want watch any qualifying games in Africa, every match is free to watch on FIFA+ with highlights of each game there too!
November 16, 20231 yr Burundi gets a good result by holding off Gambia 3-2 today, for the first minor 'upset' of African qualifying.
November 17, 20231 yr So close to a massive result for Madagascar (and in-turn group residents Mali) as Ghana need a 90+6 minute goal from Atletico Bilbao's Inaki Williams to secure a 1-0 victory at home versus the island nation. Madagascar had a strong first half and hit the crossbar in the second half. Edited November 17, 20231 yr by DJHazey
November 18, 20231 yr Author Matchday 1 - Thursday Group A Egypt 6-0 Djibouti Group B Sudan 1-1 Togo Group C Nigeria 1-1 Lesotho Group D Cape Verde 0-0 Angola Group F Burundi 3-2 Gambia Gabon 2-1 Kenya Group G Botswana 2-3 Mozambique Algeria 3-1 Somalia
November 18, 20231 yr Author Matchday 1 - Friday Group A Burkina Faso 1-1 Guinea-Bissau Group D Eswatini 0-1 Libya Cameroon 3-0 Mauritius Group E Zambia 4-2 Congo Ivory Coast 9-0 Seychelles Group G Guinea 2-1 Uganda Group H Liberia 0-1 Malawi Tunisia 4-0 São Tomé and Príncipe Group I Comoros 4-2 Central African Republic Ghana 1-0 Madagascar Mali 3-1 Chad
November 18, 20231 yr Author Matchday 1 - Saturday Group B Senegal 4-0 South Sudan Group C South Africa 2-1 Benin Group E Niger 0-1 Tanzania
November 18, 20231 yr Author Matchday 1 - Groups Group A 1. Egypt 1/10 (+6) 3 2. Guinea-Bissau 1/10 (0) 1 3. Burkina Faso 1/10 (0) 1 4. Sierra Leonne 1/10 (0) 1 5. Ethiopia 1/10 (0) 1 6. Djibouti 1/10 (-6) 0 Group B 1. Senegal 1/10 (+4) 3 2. DR Congo 1/10 (+2) 3 3. Togo 1/10 (0) 1 4. Sudan 1/10 (0) 1 5. Mauritania 1/10 (-2) 0 6. South Sudan 1/10 (-4) 0 Group C 1. South Africa 1/10 (+1) 3 2. Lesotho 1/10 (0) 1 3. Nigeria 1/10 (0) 1 4. Rwanda 1/10 (0) 1 5. Zimbabwe 1/10 (0) 1 6. Benin 1/10 (-1) 0 Group D 1. Cameroon 1/10 (+3) 3 2. Libya 1/10 (+1) 3 3. Cape Verde 1/10 (0) 1 4. Angola 1/10 (0) 1 5. Eswatini 1/10 (-1) 0 6. Mauritius 1/10 (-3) 0 Group E 1. Zambia 1/8 (+2) 3 2. Tanzania 1/8 (+1) 3 3. Morocco 0/8 (0) 0 4. Niger 1/8 (-1) 0 5. Congo 1/8 (-2) 0 Group F 1. Ivory Coast 1/10 (+9) 3 2. Burundi 1/10 (+1) 3 3. Gabon 1/10 (+1) 3 4. Gambia 1/10 (-1) 0 5. Kenya 1/10 (-1) 0 6. Seychelles 1/10 (-9) 0 Group G 1. Algeria 1/10 (+2) 3 2. Mozambique 1/10 (+1) 3 3. Guinea 1/10 (+1) 3 4. Botswana 1/10 (-1) 0 5. Uganda 1/10 (-1) 0 6. Somalia 1/10 (-2) 0 Group H 1. Tunisia 1/10 (+4) 3 2. Malawi 1/10 (+1) 3 3. Equatorial Guinea 1/10 (+1) 3 4. Liberia 1/10 (-1) 0 5. Namibia 1/10 (-1) 0 6. São Tomé and Príncipe 1/10 (-4) 0 Group I 1. Comoros 1/10 (+2) 3 2. Mali 1/10 (+2) 3 3. Ghana 1/10 (+1) 3 4. Madagascar 1/10 (-1) 0 5. Central African Republic 1/10 (-2) 0 6. Chad 1/10 (-2) 0
November 18, 20231 yr Author After Matchday 1 Qualification: Algeria Cameroon Comoros Egypt Ivory Coast Senegal South Africa Tunisia Zambia Play-Offs: Burundi DR Congo Mali Mozambique
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