FIFA Breaks Silence After Nigeria Qualifies for 2026 World Cup Playoffs
- FIFA has published an official statement about CAF’s continental playoff for the 2026 World Cup after Nigeria qualified
- The Super Eagles joined Cameroon, Gabon, and DR Congo to decide Africa's representative at the intercontinental playoff
- FIFA announced all the details of the upcoming matches in Morocco, but did not confirm the viral matchup online
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FIFA has published a statement about CAF’s continental playoffs for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after the qualifier group stage was concluded on Tuesday.
Nine countries clinched automatic tickets and will represent the continent at the 48-nation tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada next year.
Source: Getty Images
Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, South Africa, and debutant Cape Verde have all confirmed their presence at the World Cup.
According to CAF Online, Africa can produce another representative through the continental and intercontinental playoff berth.
Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo will compete in Africa's playoff, and one of them will compete in the intercontinental playoff.
FIFA publishes details of CAF’s playoff
World football governing body FIFA has confirmed all the details of the CAF continental playoff, particularly that the matchup has not been fixed.
National teams have confirmed their opponents based on available information, but are yet to be signed off by FIFA ahead of announcing the new rankings on October 23.
The NFF has confirmed that the Super Eagles will face the Panthers of Gabon, and the winner of the encounter will face the winner of Cameroon against DR Congo, with the winner going through to the intercontinental playoff.
FIFA did not confirm this because the matches will be decided with the latest rankings, which will be announced on October 23. Currently, Nigeria is ranked 45th in the world, Cameroon 52nd, Congo DR 60th, and Gabon 79th.
However, it confirmed that the teams will be assigned ball numbers 1-4, with 1 as the highest-ranked team, second and third highest, and the least-ranked team, with 1 facing 4 and 2 facing 3. The semi-finals will be played on November 13 and the final on November 16.
Source: Getty Images
The intercontinental playoffs will be held in the cities of Guadalajara and Monterrey in Mexico during the March 2026 international break, six months before the World Cup.
It will include two North American teams, one from South America, one from Africa, one from Asia, and the other from Oceania, with only two going through.
The top two teams on the FIFA rankings will move straight to the final, while the four others will face off in a semifinal before progressing to the final.
Bolivia, which finished seventh on the CONMEBOL qualifying table, and New Caledonia, which lost to New Zealand in the Oceania playoffs, have booked their spots in the intercontinental playoff.
Ekong reacts after Nigeria qualifies for playoff
Legit.ng reported that Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong reacted after Nigeria clinched the 2026 FIFA World Cup playoff spot by beating Benin Republic 4-0.
The captain looks forward to the continental playoff in Morocco and is confident that Nigeria will go all the way to be at the Mundial next year.
Source: Legit.ng
