The Algerian football team now knows its opponents for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, for which 9 African teams will qualify, against only 5 so far.
Africa obtained 4 additional places thanks to the passage of the world cup to the format of 48 teams participating in the final phase.
The draw for these African zone qualifiers was eagerly awaited. It took place this Thursday, July 13 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on the sidelines of the general assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The Greens of Djamel Belmadi , who missed qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar by a hair, following their dramatic defeat against Cameroon , are keen to qualify for the next world meeting, especially since 9 places are available. for the African continent.
Their eyes, as well as those of the entire Algerian public, were therefore trained this afternoon on Abidjan.
The national team was guaranteed not to inherit one of the 9 African tenors thanks to the system of pots adopted for this draw. Algeria, the fourth African nation in the latest FIFA rankings, was logically paid into pot 1.
It was therefore impossible for her to fall on teams of the caliber of Morocco, Senegal, Egypt or even Cameroon.
Nevertheless, pot 2 is made up of certain teams that can stand up to the Greens, like Burkina Faso or Ghana.
The challenge was therefore to avoid falling into the same group with one of the formidable nations of pot 2.
Eventually, Algeria inherited Guinea, in group G. Uganda, Mozambique, Botswana and Somalia complete the group. These teams should not be able to spoil the party.
It’s a relatively lenient draw for Algeria which avoided teams like Ghana, Burkina Faso or South Africa.
Nevertheless, Djamel Belmadi and his players will have to be wary of the national Silly, a team capable of giving him a bad surprise.
Only the first of the group will qualify for the world. The 2nd will have a tiny chance by discussing the African then international play-offs.
The last confrontation between the two nations took place last September in a friendly in Oran, and ended in victory for the Greens (1-0).
At CAN 2019, the two teams met in the round of 16 and the Algerians, future winners of the trophy, largely won (3-0).
The rest of the draw gave rise to some thrilling posters, such as Egypt-Burkina Faso, Mali-Ghana or Nigeria-South Africa.
Regarding the other North African teams, Tunisia fell into the group of Equatorial Guinea and Morocco into that of Zambia.
The playoffs will begin next November and will last for ten days until October 2025.
The full draw
Group A: Egypt, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Djibouti
Group B: Senegal, DR Congo, Mauritania, Togo, Sudan, South Sudan
Group C: Nigeria, South Africa, Benin, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Lesotho
Group D: Cameroon, Cape Verde, Angola, Libya, Eswatini, Mauritius
Group E: Morocco, Zambia, Congo, Tanzania, Niger, Eritrea
Group F: Ivory Coast, Gabon, Kenya, Gambia, Burundi, Seychelles
Group G: Algeria, Guinea, Uganda, Mozambique, Botswana, Somalia
Group H: Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, Malawi, Liberia, Sao Tome and Príncipe
Group I: Mali, Ghana, Madagascar, Central African Republic, Comoros, Chad
