The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has released fresh details on how Africa’s final 2026 FIFA World Cup ticket will be decided, confirming that the continental play-off will take place in Morocco.
A circular signed by Samson Adamu, CAF’s Director of Competitions and Events, was sent to all member associations ahead of Matchday 10, the final round of qualifiers, detailing the format, seeding system, and match regulations.
CAF confirmed that the October FIFA World Rankings will determine how the four best runners-up from the nine qualification groups are seeded.
The seeding will follow this order:
Team 1 — Highest-ranked nation
Team 2 — Second highest-ranked nation
Team 3 — Third highest-ranked nation
Team 4 — Lowest-ranked nation
The top-ranked team will face the lowest-ranked, while the second and third will contest the other semi-final.
Ekong celebrating his 8th goal for the Super Eagles in Nigeria’s win against Lesotho. His 82nd appearance. Photo Credit: Getty Images
Knockout Format and Match Rules
CAF stated that the mini-tournament will use a single-leg knockout format, hosted entirely in Morocco. The matches will take place from November 13th to 16th 2025.
If the match is tied after 90 minutes, extra time (2×15 minutes) will be played.
If still level, the tie will be decided by penalty shootout.
Teams may make six substitutions in total, five in normal time and one in extra time.
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The two winners from the semi-finals will face off in a final match to determine Africa’s representative at the FIFA Intercontinental Play-Off, where they will battle for one of the last global slots at the 2026 World Cup.
CAF’s communication reaffirms its new structure, announced in 2023, following the expansion of Africa’s slots from five to nine direct qualifiers, with a possible tenth team through the intercontinental play-off.
This comes as the group phase enters its final stretch, with top runners-up like Gabon, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Uganda, Nambia, Niger, South Africa, Burkina Faso and Nigeria all in the mix.
Standings based on CAF updates as of 12 October 2025. Image Credit: Flashscore
The confederation also reiterated the runners-up rule results against the bottom team in each group will not count in comparing the best second-placed teams ensuring fairness after Eritrea’s earlier withdrawal from the qualifiers.
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The play-off winner will join Africa’s nine directly qualified teams to complete the continent’s potential historic ten-team representation at the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
