Nigeria’s opponents for the 2026 FIFA World Cup African qualifiers will be revealed on Thursday as they have been drawn in Pot 1, according to information obtained by News About Nigeria.
The draw will be conducted in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire and will be broadcast live on CAF digital platforms, including CAFONLINE. It is scheduled to take place a few hours after the 45th CAF Ordinary Assembly, also being held in Abidjan, as announced by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
CAF has divided its member nations into nine groups for the draw, with the winners of each group automatically qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Furthermore, the four best runners-up from each group will have a second chance to participate in a CAF play-off tournament. The winner of that tournament will then proceed to a FIFA-organized play-off tournament, ultimately leading to the final selection.
For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the African continent has been assigned nine slots, with a maximum of ten spots available, as the tournament will be hosted by three countries: United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Nigeria, a three-time African champion, has been drawn in Pot 1 as one of the nine seeds in the qualifying series. The other teams in Pot 1 are Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Cameroon, Mali, and Cote d’Ivoire.
In Pot 2, we have Burkina Faso, Ghana, South Africa, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Guinea, Zambia, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea. Pot 3 includes Uganda, Benin, Kenya, Mauritania, Congo, Madagascar, Guinea Bissau, Namibia, and Angola.
Mozambique, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Malawi, and Libya have been drawn into Pot 4.
Pot 5 consists of Niger, Comoros, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Botswana, and Liberia. Pot 6 includes Lesotho, South Sudan, Mauritius, Chad, Sao Tome, Djibouti, Seychelles, Eritrea, and Somalia.
