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WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION GETS EASIER FOR SIHLANGU

20/05/2023 07:24:00 Mengameli Mabuza

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MBABANE – The Confederation of African Football has announced a change in format for the African FIFA World Cup qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The CAF Executive Committee held a meeting, chaired by President Dr Patrice Motsepe, in Algiers, Algeria yesterday. One of the agenda points was a change in format of the World Cup qualification for African teams. “On the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers, the Executive Committee approved the format, dates of the Qualifiers. The new format has been adapted in-line with FIFA’s expanded FIFA World Cup format and will involve all the 54 Member Associations of CAF, who will be divided into nine groups. Winners of each group will automatically qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The four best runners-up (from the groups) will play in a CAF Play-Off tournament.

The winner (CAF Play-Off tournament) will play in the FIFA Play-off Tournament. CAF stated in a press media release. Up until now, the 28 lowest-ranked CAF teams had to play a play-off round to qualify for the group stages, where 40 teams were divided into 10 groups which was a difficult part for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) counties.

Determine

Of those 10 groups, the group winners would meet each in the five play-offs to determine Africa’s representatives. However, with the extension of the FIFA World Cup from 32 to 48 teams, CAF will get nine guaranteed spot, plus an additional nation could qualify via the FIFA Play-Off Tournament with one team from each of FIFA’s six confederations and one additional one from the host federation CONCACAF. In the end, two teams from this play-off tournament will also book their World Cup ticket.CAF also announced that the official draw of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, will be conducted on Thursday, October 12, 2023 with Eswatini men’s national team needing a miracle to qualify for the event in Ivory Cost.

The Dominic Kunene coached team are currently in the bottom of the group with two points and must win their last two games against log leaders, Burkina Faso and third-placed Togo and hope that Cape Verde losses both their games. The EXCO announced that the official draw of the TOTALEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Côte d’Ivoire 2023 will be conducted on Thursday, October 12, 2023.

Approved

On the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers, the executive committee approved the format, dates of the Qualifiers. The new format has been adapted in line with FIFA’s expanded FIFA World Cup format and will involve all the 54 member associations of CAF who will be divided into nine Groups. Winners of each group will automatically qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026. The four best runners-up (from the groups) will play in a CAF Play-Off tournament. The winner (CAF Play-Off tournament) will play in the FIFA Play-off Tournament. Meanwhile Eswatini football Association (EFA) Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe said he was not yet aware of the latest changes.