Africa’s top-ranked countries will represent the continent in next year’s FIFA World Cup.

As the CAF qualifying campaign concluded on Tuesday, most of the countries that qualified were favourites from the onset to win their groups, except Cape Verde, which edged Cameroon in Group D.

Seven of the top 10 countries on the continent, in terms of FIFA rankings, have qualified for the global showpiece: Egypt, Senegal, South Africa, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Algeria, and Tunisia.

Only two countries outside the top 10 made it: Cape Verde, who are ranked 13th in Africa, and Ghana (14th) secured qualification.

Meanwhile, Nigeria, Gabon, Cameroon and DR Congo will have a second chance to qualify after making it to the playoffs as the four second place best-ranked teams from their respective groups.

The CAF playoff winner might need to win up to four games to reach the 2026 World Cup depending on their FIFA ranking.

First comes a semifinal and final in Morocco between the four best group runners-up, with matchups based on the FIFA rankings to be released on 23 October. The mini tournament is set to be hosted by Morocco in November.

The winner then advances to the intercontinental playoffs, where six teams from CAF (1), Asia (1), CONMEBOL (1), Oceania (1), and CONCACAF (2) will compete.

The four lowest-ranked teams play first, with the winners going on to face the two highest-ranked sides for the final two World Cup spots.

The draw for the World Cup takes place in Washington DC, United States, on 5 December.

The tournament will be co-hosted by the United States of America (USA), Canada and Mexico.