Four Into One – How Do African World Cup Play-offs Work?
Four contenders will be reduced to one in the African play-offs for the 2026 Fifa World Cup during this international window.
After missing out on the continent’s nine automatic qualification spots, Cameroon, DR Congo, Gabon and Nigeria travel to Morocco for a winner-takes-all mini-tournament.
Depending on their world ranking, the victorious team will face one or two more matches to reach next year’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
How Did the Sides Reach African Play-offs?
The teams reached this stage as the four best second-placed finishers across Africa’s nine World Cup qualifying groups.
Results against the sixth-placed side in eight groups were not counted because Eritrea withdrew before the competition, leaving Group E with only five teams.
Gabon had the strongest record, followed by DR Congo and Cameroon.
Nigeria secured the final play-off spot on goal difference, with Frank Onyeka’s 91st-minute goal in a 4-0 win over Benin giving them a narrow edge over Burkina Faso.
How Was the African Play-off Draw Decided?
The Fifa world rankings were used to determine the semi-final pairings, with the highest-ranked team facing the lowest-ranked.
Nigeria (41st) will play Gabon (77th) on Thursday at 16:00 GMT.
Cameroon (54th) will meet DR Congo (60th) later the same day at 19:00 GMT.
The semi-final winners will meet on Sunday at 19:00 GMT for a chance to stay in the race for a World Cup place.
All matches will be played in Rabat, Morocco.
What Happens to the Winners?
Africa’s play-off winners will move into a six-team intercontinental qualifier, held from 23 to 31 March 2026. This stage will determine the final two teams for the World Cup.
Two nations from the Concacaf region and one team each from Asia, Oceania and South America will also take part.
The six teams will be placed into two brackets.
The two highest-ranked sides will be seeded and advance directly to the final round of their brackets. The four lower-ranked nations will compete in the semi-finals.
The United Arab Emirates and Iraq will decide Asia’s play-off spot.
Bolivia will represent South America, and New Caledonia will represent Oceania.
With Bolivia and New Caledonia ranked 76th and 150th in the world, the chances of Africa’s representative receiving a direct place in a final are higher.
The intercontinental play-offs will be single-leg knockout matches, including extra time and penalties if required. The draw for this stage will take place on 20 November.
Who Are the Favourites to Win Africa’s Play-offs?
Nigeria are the highest-ranked team but had the weakest qualifying campaign of the four sides. They used three different managers during Group C and struggled when Victor Osimhen was out injured, earning only four points from a possible 15 without him.
However, Nigeria are unbeaten in six competitive matches under Eric Chelle and aim to avoid missing a second straight World Cup.
Cameroon, another major African team, finished four points behind Cape Verde in Group D. They won only one of their five away fixtures, which is not ideal ahead of this neutral-venue tournament. Cameroon hold the African record for most World Cup appearances and hope to add another.
DR Congo finished two points behind Senegal in Group B. They lost a 2-0 lead against Senegal at home, eventually losing 3-2. Yoane Wissa is still recovering from injury, but Cedric Bakambu has scored four goals in qualifying.
Gabon finished one point behind Ivory Coast in Group F. Denis Bouanga and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were key attackers, scoring eight and seven goals. Aubameyang scored four times against The Gambia last month before receiving a red card, but he has now returned.
Who Could They Face at the World Cup?
The 2026 World Cup draw will take place on 5 December. The tournament will feature 48 teams divided into 12 groups of four.
Forty-two teams will be known by the time of the draw. Only the two intercontinental play-off winners and the four European play-off winners will still be undecided.
The African play-off winner may already know potential group opponents before their intercontinental qualifier is played.
