The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has conducted the official draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup African qualifiers, setting up a series of high-stakes encounters across the continent.
The nine group winners will qualify automatically for the World Cup to be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Meanwhile, the four best runners-up across all groups will advance to a CAF Play-Off, with the winner earning a place in the FIFA Intercontinental Play-Off Tournament.
South Africa has been drawn into Group C alongside regional rivals Zimbabwe, West African giants Nigeria, and the competitive sides of Benin, Rwanda, and Lesotho — a group already being described as one of the most balanced yet unpredictable in the qualifiers.
The full draw is as follows:
Group A: Egypt, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Djibouti
Group B: Senegal, DR Congo, Mauritania, 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: Côte d’Ivoire, 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
South Africa’s path to qualification will see them renew rivalries with Nigeria, whom they have faced in multiple memorable contests, including AFCON 2019. With the top spot the only guaranteed route to the World Cup, every point in this group could prove decisive.