The Zambia National Team will this evening know their opponents in the FIFA World Cup 2026™African Preliminaries Qualifiers.
The official Draw of the FIFA World Cup 2026™African Preliminaries Qualifiers will be conducted this evening in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Zambia has been placed in pot two for a draw alongside Burkina Faso, Ghana, South Africa, Cabo Verde, Congo DR, Guinea, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea.
The Chipolopolo are expected to face one of ten top seeded teams in Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali, and Côte d’Ivoire.
FAZ Vice President Dr Justin Mumba and General Secretary, Reuben Kamanga are both in Côte D’Ivoire for the draw which will take place on the sidelines of the CAF Ordinary General Assembly.
The draw will be live on CAF digital platforms and CAFONLINE.com at 15h00 GMT (18h00 Cairo time).
54 teams have entered the draw and will be divided into nine (9) 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 of the CAF Play-Off Tournament will play in the FIFA Play-off Tournament.
The matches will take place over ten match days during the next two years: 13-21 November 2023; 3-11 June 2024; 17-25 March 2025; 1-9 September 2025; 6-14 October 2025; 10-18 November 2025 (Play-offs)
The 54 nations are seeded in six pots:
Pot One: Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire
Pot Two: Burkina Faso, Ghana, South Africa, Cabo Verde, Congo DR, Guinea, Zambia, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea
Pot Three: Uganda, Benin, Mauritania, Kenya, Congo, Madagascar, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia, Angola
Pot Four: Mozambique, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Malawi, Libya
Pot Five: Niger, Comoros, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Botswana, Liberia
Pot Six: Lesotho, South Sudan, Mauritius, Chad, São Tomé and Príncipe, Djibouti, Seychelles, Eritrea, Somalia
