Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa are among the nations hoping to seal their places at the 2026 World Cup.
The African section of qualification for next summer’s tournament has entered its final stages.
As things currently stand, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria are the four nations from Africa guaranteed a place at the next World Cup, but there are still so many places up for grabs.
Five more group winners will directly qualify for the World Cup, while the four best group runners-up will participate in play-offs to determine which team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs that take place in March 2026.
So it is all to play for and here we run you through the permutations for the nations involved.
Group A
Egypt booked their World Cup place earlier this week as Mohamed Salah netted a brace in the 3-0 win over Djibouti in Casablanca.
They have now won the group, with Burkina Faso guaranteed second spot ahead of the final round of games. Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Ethiopia and Djibouti have all been eliminated.
Group B
This group is set to go right down to the wire between Senegal and DR Congo. The Lions go into the final round of fixtures with a two-point advantage which means they simply have to match Les Leopards’ result to qualify automatically for the World Cup.
Any slip-up though and the door will open for DR Congo, who know they must win their game against Sudan, and hope Senegal come unstuck against Mauritania.
Sudan, Togo, Mauritania and South Sudan have all been eliminated from contention.
Group C
South Africa’s punishment for fielding an ineligible player against Lesotho has blown Group C wide open.
Without the aforementioned punishment, Bafana Bafana would have been closing in on automatic qualification but they now need to beat Rwanda in their final game after they were held by Zimbabwe on Friday.
That opened the door for Nigeria, who beat Lesotho, while Benin consolidated their place at the top with a win over Rwanda.
Their final group game against Nigeria is set to prove decisive, after the Super Eagles beat Lesotho on Friday.
Group D
Cape Verde still require a win to qualify for the World Cup as group winners. This is because they have an inferior goal difference to second-placed Cameroon, so another draw with Eswatini would leave them vulnerable.
Cameroon, meanwhile, eliminated Angola from qualification by beating Mauritius but must match Libya’s result on Monday to avoid dropping out of the top two.
Libya need to beat Mauritius to have any hope of reaching next summer’s main tournament but Mauritius and Eswatini have already been eliminated.
Group E
Morocco have eased to qualification, winning all seven games so far, scoring 21 goals and conceding just twice.
As a result, the battle for the runners-up spot is between Niger and Zambia, who will face each other on the final matchday in what is a winner-take-all showdown.
Group F
This group is very straightforward. Gambia, Burundi, Kenya and Seychelles have all been eliminated, leaving Ivory Coast and Gabon to battle it out for automatic qualification.
Ivory Coast are in the driving seat thanks to their goalless draw in Franceville last month. However, their lead at the top of Group F is only a point which means they have to match Gabon’s results to be assured of winning the group.
As for Gabon, they have to beat both Gambia and Burundi while hoping for a shock result from elsewhere.
Group G
Algeria beat Somalia, who had already been eliminated, on Thursday to qualify for their fifth World Cup, thus completing an unprecedented quadruple for North African countries, with Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt also securing their places at next summer’s tournament.
Uganda are all but guaranteed to finish second due to having a superior goal difference over Mozambique.
Group H
Namibia were hot favourites to seal a top-two spot behind Tunisia.
They would have effectively done just that by avoiding defeat against third-placed Liberia, but a win for the hosts on Thursday has now handed hope to Malawi and Equatorial Guinea, whose match was cancelled.
The final matchday sees Equatorial Guinea host Liberia in what could prove a decisive game, especially with Namibia having the tough task of trying to claim a result away in Tunisia.
Group I
After thrashing the Central African Republic, Ghana are on the verge of qualification.
The Black Stars will officially reach their fifth World Cup if they pick up a point at home to Comoros on Sunday. In fact, they could afford to lose and still qualify due to their superior goal difference over Madagascar.
Mali, Comoros, the Central African Republic and Chad have all been eliminated.
Best runners-up
The four best runners-up progress to CAF's second qualifying round. As things currently stand, Cameroon, Madagascar, Gabon and Burkina Faso would take those spots, with the likes of South Africa and DR Congo missing out.
