The road to qualification for the 2026 World Cup intensifies in Africa with the resumption of the qualifiers this Monday, March 17. This fifth day promises to be crucial, as the teams battle it out for top spot in their groups, synonymous with direct qualification.
For the first time, the African continent has nine guaranteed places in the tournament, with a possible tenth thanks to an intercontinental play-off.
Group E kicks off with third-placed Tanzania hosting struggling Congo. Wednesday March 19 sees a number of key encounters, including Liberia-Tunisia in Group H and Cameroon-Eswatini in Group D. The Central African Republic will try to get back on track against Madagascar.
Thursday March 20 will be particularly busy, with nine matches on the program, including Zimbabwe – Benin and Cape Verde – Mauritius. In the evening, Libya take on Angola, while Mali travel to the Comoros.
The fifth round of matches concludes on Friday March 21 with 13 games, including Nigeria-Rwanda, a crucial duel for the Super Eagles in search of their first win. South Africa, for their part, will be looking to beat Lesotho to take top spot in Group C.
Other matches to keep an eye on include Egypt-Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire-Burundi and Senegal-Sudan, an explosive encounter between the top two teams in Group B.
FIFA World Cup qualifying Matchday 5 schedule
Monday, March 17
- 16:00 GMT: Tanzania – Congo
Wednesday March 19th
- 16:00 GMT: Liberia – Tunisia
- 16:00 GMT: Eswatini – Cameroon
- 16h00 GMT: Central African Republic – Madagascar
- 16h00 GMT: Mozambique – Uganda
- 16h00 GMT: Malawi – Namibia
- 16h00 GMT: Zimbabwe – Benin
- 16h00 GMT: Cape Verde – Mauritius
- 16h00 GMT: Sierra Leone – Guinea-Bissau
Thursday, March 20
- 19h00 GMT: Libya – Angola
- 19h00 GMT: Gabon – Seychelles
- 19h00 GMT: Gambia – Kenya
- 19h00 GMT: Comoros – Mali
Friday, March 21
- 13h00 GMT: Equatorial Guinea – Sao Tome & Principe
- 13h00 GMT: Botswana – Algeria
- 16h00 GMT: Rwanda – Nigeria
- 16h00 GMT: Burkina Faso – Djibouti
- 16h00 GMT: DR Congo – South Sudan
- 16h00 GMT: South Africa – Lesotho
- 16h00 GMT: Togo – Mauritania
- 19h00 GMT: Ghana – Chad
- 19h00 GMT: Burundi – Ivory Coast
- 19h00 GMT: Sudan – Senegal
- 21h00 GMT: Guinea – Somalia
- 21h00 GMT: Ethiopia – Egypt
- 21h00 GMT: Niger – Morocco