This Thursday, July 13 in Abidjan, the African Football Confederation will hold, as every year, its General Assembly. It will be an opportunity to renew the executive office, but eyes will be more on the draw for the 2026 World Cup which will take place just after.
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From our special correspondent in Abidjan,
This draw was to take place this Wednesday, June 12, the day before the General Assembly, before being canceled, then rescheduled on the same day as the GA of this Thursday, July 13. A few hours after the renewal of the executive office, we will therefore know the constitution of the nine pools which will punctuate the African qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. The nine seeds will be determined by the latest FIFA ranking published on June 29.
Ivory Coast narrowly seeded?
It will logically be the first nine in Africa: Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali, Ivory Coast. The latter can consider herself lucky to be among the top seeds, even if the former international Abdoulaye Traoré Ben Badi thinks that this does not guarantee anything for the future. “All teams are equal. African football is on the rise. Beware of so-called small teams “, dropped the former Elephant after the African Legends match organized on Wednesday by CAF.
At the end of this draw, nine groups of six teams will be formed. The first of each pool will be directly qualified for the World Cup and the four best runners-up will compete in a mini-championship. The winner of this small tournament will compete in the intercontinental play-offs to hope to grab a 10th place for Africa in 2026.
Announcement on CAN 2025 and 2027 before September
A little earlier, therefore, 54 national associations that make up CAF will have carried out a third of the renewal of the members of the CAF executive committee.
Despite the solemnity of the moment, we should not expect a big announcement such as the official designation of the host countries of CAN 2025 and 2027. While rumors have been swirling for a few days on the allocation of 2025 to Morocco and 2027 to Algeria, the president of the African Football Confederation, Patrice Motsepe told RFI that there will be no communication on the CANs in question. ” But it will be announced before September “, he promises.