CAF has made some new announcements regarding the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, confirming a format change to qualification for the latter.
Following a meeting of the CAF Executive Committee in Algeria, president of the African football governing body, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, made several announcements, including an update on the preparations for the next AFCON tournament, which is set to get underway on 24 January 2024 in the Ivory Coast.
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At the meeting, the Executive Committee was informed of the recently signed five-year Memorandum of Understanding between CAF and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, which aims to foster growth opportunities for African and Saudi football.
CAF also announced format changes to the qualifying of the 2026 FIFA World Cup following its expansion from 32 to 48 teams earlier this year.
"On the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers, the Executive Committee approved the format, dates of the Qualifiers. The new format has been adapted in line with FIFA's expanded FIFA World Cup format and will involve all the 54 Member Associations of CAF who will be divided into nine (9) Groups," CAF said via their official website.
"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 (CAF Play-Off tournament) will play in the FIFA Play-off Tournament."
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The previous qualification structure meant the 28 lowest-ranked CAF teams had to first participate in a play-off round to qualify for the group stage of qualification; 40 nations were then drawn into 10 groups and the winners of each group would face each other in five two-legged play-off games to determine who will represent CAF at the global showpiece.
The Executive Committee also noted the progress that had been made by the Ivory Coast in their preparations for AFCON 2023, with Motsepe thanking the nation's president Alassane Ouattara and prime minister Patrick Achi "for the co-operation and commitment to ensuring that the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cote d'Ivoire 2023 is world class".
It was also confirmed that the official draw for the continental tournament will be conducted on Thursday, 12 October 2023, with five countries having already qualified alongside the hosts, namely Senegal, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, and Burkina Faso.
It was further announced that the draw for the 2026 World Cup African qualifiers will be held on Wednesday, 12 July 2023, in Cotonou, Benin – the night before the 45th CAF Ordinary General Assembly.
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