Following the plans of FIFA to extend the Men’s World Cup format from 36 to 48 participating countries, Africa has been guaranteed nine spots in the competition and one extra slot should an African team survive the Intercontinental Playoffs.

The Qualification format is long but intriguing as there will be nine groups with 6 teams each.

After 10 rounds of home and away matches, the group winner of the nine groups will automatically qualify for the World Cup.

It gets more interesting as four of the best second-placed team will face off against each other in a playoff that determines the team that will represent Africa in the international playoffs which determines the country that makes it to the tournament.

Should an African country win the Intercontinental playoffs, then it means that Africa will be represented by 10 teams, but should the team fail then Africa will have nine teams at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and cannot afford to miss the 2026 World Cup especially after participation has been expanded from four teams to nine guaranteed spots.