African Qualifiers for 2026 World Cup- Ghana face Mali, Ivory Coast face Gabon, Morocco handed Zambia |

The Black Stars of Ghana have been placed in Group I in the preliminary stage of African qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. A draw held in Ivory Coast on Thursday afternoon saw Ghana pair with Mali, Madagascar, Central Africa Republic, Comoros and Chad.

AFCON record holders Egypt is placed in Group A long with Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Djibouti.

AFCON defending champions Senegal will face Togo, Sudan, South Sudan, Dr Congo and Mauritania in Group B. Historic African country at the World Cup finals Morocco has been placed in Group E where they will meet Zambia, Congo, Tanzania, Niger and Eritrea while 2023 AFCON hosts Ivory Coast will play against the likes of Gabon, Kenya, Gambia, Burundi and Seychelles in Group I.

Morocco reached semifinals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to become the first African country to reach that stage.

African teams were placed into 9 groups with each group consisting of 6 teams with the topper of groups automatically qualifying for the 2006 World Cup that will host in trio of USA, Mexico and Canada.

The prelims of the African World Cup qualifiers will begin in November this year.

Full draw below

Group A