At noon Pacific Time on October 14th, the final round of the African qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup concluded, confirming the nine teams that will qualify for the World Cup. The four teams that will participate in the African playoffs have also been finalized.

For the 2026 World Cup, the African region has 9.5 berths. The nine group winners from the World Cup qualifying group stage advance directly, while the four best runner-up teams advance to the playoffs to compete for one spot in the continental playoffs.

In the final match of Group C of the African qualifiers, Nigeria defeated Benin 4-0 at home, while South Africa defeated Rwanda 3-0. This resulted in Benin, which had previously topped the group, dropping to third place due to a goal difference disadvantage, effectively eliminating them. South Africa, despite previously being penalized 0-3 for fielding a player in a 2-0 victory over Lesotho, ultimately secured a direct qualification spot. Nigeria advanced to the playoffs, finishing second in the group thanks to their goal difference advantage.

Nine teams advanced directly to the 2026 World Cup in the African qualifiers: Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, and Senegal.

The four best runners-up in their groups advanced to the African qualifiers playoffs. Due to Eritrea's withdrawal before the start of the tournament, Group E had only five teams, while the other groups had six. Therefore, when comparing the results of the runners-up in each group, the results of the second- and bottom-placed teams in groups other than Group E were not included. Ultimately, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, and Nigeria advanced to the playoffs.

The four teams in the African qualifiers playoffs will be grouped according to their world rankings, with the highest team facing the lowest and the second- and third-placed teams facing each other.

The playoffs will be held in Morocco next month, with both the semifinals and final being single-leg matches.