Monrovia – The National football team of Liberia has been placed in Group H of the African qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
By Christopher C. Walker, [email protected]
The draw took place on Thursday, July 13, 2023, during the 45th CAF ordinary congress in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Lone Star, as the Liberian team is known, will compete against Sao Tome, Malawi, Namibia, Equatorial Guinea, and Tunisia in their bid to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals, which will be held in the United States of America.
The fixtures will follow a home and away format, with the group winners earning automatic qualification for the finals. The upcoming World Cup will feature 48 participating teams, an increase from the previous 32-team format.
In other groups, Morocco finds itself in Group E alongside Zambia, Niger, Congo, Tanzania, and Eritrea as they vie for a spot in the joint-hosted World Cup, which will be held in Canada, the US, and Mexico.
The qualifiers kick off with Djibouti playing the opening match in Group A. Ethiopia, Seriolione, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso, and Egypt complete the group.
Group B consists of South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Mauritania, Congo DR, and Senegal. Group C includes Rwanda, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Benin, South Africa, and Nigeria.
Mauritius is placed in Group D with Eswatini, Libya, Angola, Cape Verde, and Cameroon. Eritrea falls in Group E alongside Niger, Congo, Tanzania, Zambia, and Morocco.
Gambia, Kenya, Burundi, Seychelles, Gabon, and Cote d’Ivoire make up Group F, while Group G comprises Mozambique, Somalia, Uganda, Botswana, Guinea, and Algeria.
Group H features Namibia, Liberia, Sao Tome and Principe, Malawi, Equatorial Guinea, and Tunisia. Group I consists of Chad, Madagascar, Comoros, Central African Republic, Ghana, and Mali.
On May 18, CAF modified the qualifying procedure during its Executive Committee meeting in Algiers. Fifty-four countries were seeded into six pots before being randomly drawn into nine groups, each comprising six teams.
To determine CAF’s representative at the FIFA play-off event, the top four group runners-up will compete in a play-off round. Additionally, one team from each of FIFA’s six confederations, excluding UEFA, will participate in the FIFA play-off competition, along with a team from the host confederation, Concacaf.
According to the FIFA ranking, two of the six teams will be seeded. The seeded teams will face off against the winners of the first two knockout matches between the four unseeded teams to secure qualification for the FIFA World Cup.
The qualifying matches will span ten matchdays over the next two years. The first matchday is scheduled for November 13-21, 2023, followed by matchdays on June 3-11, 2024, March 17-25, 2025, September 1-9, 2025, October 6-14, 2025, and November 10-18, 2025.
Group H
Tunisia
Equatorial Guinea
Namibia
Malawi
Liberia
São Tomé