The Super Eagles of Nigeria will battle South Africa, Benin Republic, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Lesotho in the Preliminary Round of Africa’s World Cup 2026 qualifiers.
The three-time African champions were drawn in group C at the draws held on Thursday in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is billed to be co-hosted by United States of America, Canada and Mexico.
The African zone is comprised of nine groups (A to I).
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The nine groups will play in a home and away, round-robin, format with each of the group winners qualifying automatically for the 2026 World Cup.
The four best group runners-up will then compete in a play-off stage to complete CAF’s representative at the FIFA play-off tournament.
The winners will join five other teams in an inter-confederation tournament with two World Cup places up for grabs.
The full draws:
Group A
Egypt, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Sierra leone, Ethiopia, Djibouti.
Group B
Senegal, Congo DR, Mauritania, Togo, Sudan, South Sudan.
Group C
Nigeria, South Africa, Benin, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Lesotho.
Group D
Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Angola, Libya, Eswatini, Mauritius.
Group E
Morocco, Zambia, Congo, Tanzania, Niger, Eritrea.
Group F
Cote d’Iviore, Gabon, Kenya, Gambia, Burundi, Seychelles.
Group G
Algeria, Guinea, Uganda, Mozambique, Botswana, Somalia.
Group H
Tunisia, E/Guinea, Namibia, Malawi, Liberia, Sao tome.
Group I
Mali, Ghana, Madagascar, CAR, Comoros, Chad.
The qualifiers will kick-off in November, 2023.
