2026 World Cup Qualifiers: Cameroon’s Playoffs Path

Following the conclusion of the group phase of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in the African Zone on October 14, 2025, the nine teams that qualified directly for the World Cup were confirmed, along with the four teams set to compete in the African playoff. Cameroon, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Gabon are the four best second-placed teams that will take part in the African playoff tournament this November in Morocco. In ranking the best four second-placed teams, results against bottom-ranked sides in each group were excluded following Eritrea’s withdrawal from Group E earlier in the campaign. After missing direct qualification, the senior national team of Cameroon must now navigate a tougher and more pressure-filled path. The African playoff tournament format is a knockout, with semifinals scheduled for November 13, 2025, and the final match set for November 16, 2025. The setup ensures high drama, as only one team will emerge to continue the quest for World Cup qualification. The fixtures will be determined according to this month’s FIFA ranking of the four teams. The highest-ranked team will meet the fourth-ranked team in one semifinal, while the second- and thirdranked face off in the other. While waiting for the official match schedule from FIFA, Cameroon finds itself as the second-best ranked team among the qualified teams, while DRC comes third. Nigeria, the bestranked team, could thus meet Gabon, the lowest-ranked team. The winners of both matches will meet in the final.

The winner of this African playoff will progress to the intercontinental playoff in March 2026, where six teams from different confederations will compete for the remaining two places at the World Cup. Two teams from CONCACAF (North America, Central America and ...