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The Black Stars of Ghana have the chance of qualifying for a fifth FIFA World Cup tournament following the draw for the preliminary stage of the African qualifiers.
The draw for the prelims of the qualifiers for the continent was held on Thursday, July 13.
At the end of the draw, the Black Stars have been pitted in Group I to face the national teams of Comoros, Chad, Madagascar, the Central African Republic, and Mali.
While many describe the group as tricky, others believe it provides an easy route for Ghana’s male senior national team to secure a fifth FIFA World Cup qualification.
Ghana in the past played at the 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2022, FIFA World Cup tournaments.
Format for qualifiers:
CAF in May announced a new format for the qualifiers of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, following the decision by FIFA to increase Africa’s quota from five to nine direct tickets.
From the new format which was approved by the Executive Committee of CAF during its meeting in Algiers on Thursday, all the 54 Member Associations will be divided into nine groups of six teams each.
Games will be played on a round-robin basis, and the top team from each group after Match Day 10, will earn an automatic qualification to the 2026 World Cup.
Subsequently, the best four second-placed teams from across all nine groups will enter into a Continental play-off to determine one winner who will then proceed to a second and final play-off which will include six teams from the other different confederations.
From here, another African country could secure qualification to bring the total number of representatives from the continent to 10.
The African qualifiers which will be played in a period of two years will commence in November this year.
The next FIFA World Cup will be hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
The draw for the prelims of the qualifiers for the continent was held on Thursday, July 13.
At the end of the draw, the Black Stars have been pitted in Group I to face the national teams of Comoros, Chad, Madagascar, the Central African Republic, and Mali.
While many describe the group as tricky, others believe it provides an easy route for Ghana’s male senior national team to secure a fifth FIFA World Cup qualification.
Ghana in the past played at the 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2022, FIFA World Cup tournaments.
Format for qualifiers:
CAF in May announced a new format for the qualifiers of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, following the decision by FIFA to increase Africa’s quota from five to nine direct tickets.
From the new format which was approved by the Executive Committee of CAF during its meeting in Algiers on Thursday, all the 54 Member Associations will be divided into nine groups of six teams each.
Games will be played on a round-robin basis, and the top team from each group after Match Day 10, will earn an automatic qualification to the 2026 World Cup.
Subsequently, the best four second-placed teams from across all nine groups will enter into a Continental play-off to determine one winner who will then proceed to a second and final play-off which will include six teams from the other different confederations.
From here, another African country could secure qualification to bring the total number of representatives from the continent to 10.
The African qualifiers which will be played in a period of two years will commence in November this year.
The next FIFA World Cup will be hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.