Chipolopolo will face the second best ranked team in Africa, Morocco, in its quest to qualify for a maiden World Cup appearance at the 2026 edition to be co-hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico.
Besides Morocco, Zambia have been drawn with Congo, Tanzania, Niger and Eritrea in Group E.
A total of nine groups have been drawn, with the team that tops each group guaranteed automatic qualification to the FIFA World Cup.
The qualifiers will take place over ten match days during the next two years starting from dates between 13 to 21 November, 2023.
Other dates include 3 to 11 June 2024, 17 to 25 March, 2025 1 to 9 September 2025 and 6 to 14 October, 2025.
The nine groups will play in a home and away, round-robin, format with the four best group runners-up to then compete in a play-off stage to determine CAF’s representative at the FIFA play-off tournament.
The FIFA play-off tournament will feature one team from each of FIFA’s six confederations, except UEFA, plus one additional team from the host confederation (Concacaf).
10 to 18 November 2025 are dates FIFA has set for the play-offs.
FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 QUALIFIERS DRAW:
Group A
EGYPT, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia & Djibouti.
Group B
SENEGAL, DRC, Mauritania, Togo, Sudan & South Sudan.
Group C
NIGERIA, SA, Benin Rep, Zimbabwe, Rwanda & Lesotho
Group D
CAMEROON, Cape Verde, Angola, Libya, Eswatini & Mauritius.
Group E
MOROCCO, Zambia, Congo, Tanzania, Niger & Eritrea
Group F
IVORY COAST, Gabon, Kenya, The Gambia, Burundi & Seychelles
Group G
ALGERIA, Guinea, Uganda, Mozambique, Botswana & Somalia
Group H
TUNISIA, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, Malawi, Liberia & Sao Tome
Group I
MALI, Ghana, Madagascar, CAR, Comoros & Chad
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