World Cup
Africa’s World Cup hopefuls await 2026 draw as historic 48-team tournament takes shape
Africa’s nine qualified nations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will discover their group-stage opponents on Friday, as the draw for the expanded 48-team tournament takes place in Washington D.C.
The ceremony, hosted at the Kennedy Center, begins at 7pm CAT (5pm GMT) and marks the first major milestone in the final build-up to a World Cup that will span Canada, the United States and Mexico between 11 June and 18 July 2026.
For African teams, the draw represents more than just the unveiling of opponents.
It signals the first step in a campaign that many believe could be the continent’s most promising in decades, coming after Morocco’s historic semi-final run at Qatar 2022 — the first by any African nation.
Africa’s contingent is already confirmed: Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cape Verde and South Africa all topped their qualifying groups and secured automatic places at the tournament.
Under the new 48-team format, the World Cup will feature 12 groups of four, with teams drawn from four seeded pots based on the latest FIFA rankings.
Crucially for African sides, FIFA’s geographic restrictions ensure no group may contain more than one CAF nation, removing the possibility of early all-African clashes and guaranteeing nine separate African representatives across the groups.
Morocco and Senegal, currently Africa’s highest-ranked teams, enter the draw in Pot 2, avoiding some of the continent’s toughest potential opponents and increasing their chances of a favourable path.
Five African nations — Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa — are placed in Pot 3, setting up the possibility of complex, highly competitive groups.
Meanwhile, Ghana and Cape Verde, both positioned in Pot 4, face the toughest draw conditions and are expected to be matched with a Pot 1 global powerhouse.
Pot 1 contains the strongest nations at the tournament, including Germany, Brazil, France, Spain, England, Argentina and the three co-hosts — the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The presence of Europe’s heavyweights in every group guarantees difficult assignments, though African sides have increasingly shown an ability to compete with, and even surpass, world football’s elite.
Morocco’s run to the last four at Qatar 2022 remains the clearest example, but Senegal, Tunisia and Ghana all made significant impressions at recent tournaments, and Côte d’Ivoire and Algeria carry squads brimming with top-level European experience.
While 42 teams have already qualified, six World Cup spots remain undecided.
Four will come from the UEFA play-offs, featuring heavyweight nations such as Italy, Turkey, Sweden and Poland.
The remaining two places will be settled through the Intercontinental Play-Off Tournament in March, involving Jamaica, Bolivia, Suriname, New Caledonia, Iraq and DR Congo.
If Leopards qualify through the playoffs, they will be protected from facing any CAF nation in the group stage due to confederation separation rules.
What African teams can expect today
The procedure follows standard FIFA format:
- Teams are placed into four pots.
- One team from each pot is drawn into each of the 12 groups (A–L).
- The three host nations automatically take positions A1, B1 and D1.
- Geographic restrictions apply for all confederations except UEFA, which may have up to two European teams per group due to its large number of qualifiers.
FIFA has also confirmed that the top four ranked teams worldwide — Spain, Argentina, France and England — will be separated across the draw to avoid meeting before the semi-final stage, provided they top their groups.
For African sides, the draw will determine not only their opponents but also their match venues, travel routes, rest periods and potential knockout pathways across a tournament hosted over three vast countries.
A pivotal moment for African football
With unprecedented squad depth across the continent and a World Cup format offering more places and more knockout berths, African football enters the draw with a renewed sense of possibility.
Whether Morocco can build on their 2022 heroics, or whether another African nation emerges as a surprise contender, will begin to take shape tonight when the 2026 World Cup map is finally revealed.
Below are the pots for the 2026 World Cup draw
Pot 1: France, Canada, Mexico, United States, Spain, Argentina, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
Pot 3: Saudi Arabia, Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Uzbekistan, Qatar, South Africa
Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, winners of European play-offs A, B, C and D, winners of intercontinental play-offs 1 and 2.
-Cafonline
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Iran coach Ardeshir Amir Ghalenoei arrived in Washington with a delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation ahead of Friday’s World Cup draw, FIFA said.
In a statement to Reuters, FIFA said it welcomed the delegation’s presence in the U.S. capital as preparations continue for the expanded 48-team tournament next summer, which will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Iran initially said the ceremony in Washington over visa issues.
While Iran had applied for nine visas for their delegation, Iranian soccer federation (FFIRI) spokesman Amir Mehdi Alavi was quoted as saying that the U.S. had granted four visas, including coach Ghalenoei.
Mehdi Taj, president of the FFIRI, was not granted a visa.
The United States has long-standing strict visa restrictions on Iranians for .
“FIFA has welcomed the arrival of the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation delegation to Washington, DC, including head coach Ardeshir Ghalehnoy, to attend the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Draw and the team seminar,” the statement said.
“FIFA looks forward to continue to work with the Federation and the host country authorities to ensure preparations for their participation at the FIFA World Cup 2026 next summer.”
Iran secured qualification earlier this year through the Asian qualifiers and will discover their group-stage opponents at the draw later on Friday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
-Reuters
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U.S. President Donald Trump is set to preside over the FIFA World Cup final draw on Friday, in what is expected to be a lavish, showman-style ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington. The high-profile event marks one of the most significant intersections yet between global sport and Trump’s presidential persona.
The Kennedy Center, which Trump effectively took control of earlier this year by appointing a new president and board, will host an evening of pomp, pageantry and star-studded performances. Organisers have clearly designed the programme with the president in mind.
The iconic disco group Village People will perform their hit “Y.M.C.A.” — a signature song regularly played at Trump’s political rallies. FIFA is also expected to unveil a new peace prize during the ceremony, with Trump slated to be the inaugural recipient. The president has long touted his efforts to end global conflicts as a basis for recognition on the world stage, including the Nobel Peace Prize, though results of those diplomatic efforts have been mixed.
The entertainment lineup further includes classical legend Andrea Bocelli, British pop star Robbie Williams, and American singer and Broadway performer Nicole Scherzinger, underscoring the ceremony’s high-profile nature.
This year, Trump has repeatedly used the ceremonial trappings of the presidency to position himself prominently at major cultural and sporting events. He attended the Super Bowl in February — receiving both cheers and boos — and is scheduled to appear at the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday, an event he chose to avoid during his first term.
Geopolitical tensions are also expected to cast a shadow over the proceedings. An Iranian delegation will attend the draw despite initially threatening to boycott the event over visa complications, according to media reports. Their presence comes months after U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June.
Friday’s draw will not only determine the matchups for football’s biggest tournament but will also spotlight a president eager to place himself at the centre of the global stage — this time, in front of the football world.
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U.S. President Donald Trump turned the spotlight onto FIFA president Gianni Infantino ahead of Friday’s 2026 World Cup draw in Washington, praising the football boss’ organisation of the world’s biggest sporting event.
Infantino has been criticised in recent months by some observers who accuse him of drawing uncomfortably close to Trump, whose administration has taken a high-profile role in U.S. preparations for what will be the biggest and most logistically-challenging World Cup ever.
The soccer boss attended Trump’s inauguration in January and has previously said the U.S. leader deserved global recognition for his role in brokering a ceasefire in the Middle East.
FIFA plans to unveil its own peace prize during the draw ceremony with Trump the expected recipient.
Spotting Infantino in the audience during a ceremony in Washington marking the signing of a peace treaty between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Trump congratulated him for what he described as record-breaking ticket demand for the first 48-team World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“Gianni, thank you very much,” Trump said. “You’ve done a fantastic job, a great leader in sports and a great gentleman.”
Teams will learn their group-stage fate later on Friday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in a draw for a tournament that stretches across three countries and 16 cities, from Vancouver to Mexico City.
Trump claimed sales were selling at a pace never seen before. “I can report to you that we have sold more tickets than any country anywhere in the world at this stage of the game,” he said, adding that demand had already “broken all records”.
Over one million tickets have been purchased so far by fans from 212 countries, FIFA said last month.
After the presidential shout-out, Infantino did not speak publicly. The FIFA president is overseeing his third men’s World Cup, after Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.
-Reuters
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