The Super Eagles may be drawn against arch-rivals Ghana, South Africa, and Angola in the African qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
The draw ceremony for the qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup holds in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on Thursday (today) hours after the 45th CAF Ordinary Assembly at the same venue.
According to a statement from the Confederation of Africa Football, Africa will employ a single-stage of World Cup qualification format for the next finals that will be co-hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico.
The decision ends the three qualification rounds format adopted in the past, which takes almost two years to complete.
The new format, which was approved by the Executive Committee of CAF, will see the 54 Member Associations’ teams drawn into nine groups of six teams each, with the winners from each group qualifying for the World Cup after Africa’s slots were increased to nine teams, with the 10th team qualifying via a playoff process.
The four best runners-up will be drawn in a mini-playoff to find one extra team that will advance to the intercontinental playoffs.
The Eagles, who are seeded in Pot 1 for the draw, will automatically avoid Morocco, who made history by becoming the first-ever African country to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup at the last edition in Qatar, as well as Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Cameroon, Mali and Ivory Coast, who are also in Pot 1. Teams in the same pot cannot be drawn together.