2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group A
The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group A was a CAF qualifying group for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The group contained Egypt, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
The group winners, Egypt, directly qualified for the World Cup. The group runners-up, Burkina Faso, were eliminated as one of the five worst runners-up.[1][2]
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 2 | +18 | 26 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 6–0 | ||
| 2 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 8 | +15 | 21 | 0–0 | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 4–1 | |||
| 3 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 15 | 0–2 | 0–1 | — | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | |||
| 4 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 10 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–0 | |||
| 5 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 14 | −5 | 9 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 6–1 | |||
| 6 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 33 | −28 | 1 | 0–3 | 0–6 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — |
Matches
| Burkina Faso | 1–1 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Sierra Leone | 0–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, Paynesville (Liberia)
Attendance: 8,916
Referee: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo (DR Congo)
| Djibouti | 0–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Ethiopia | 0–3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Sierra Leone | 2–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Ben M'Hamed El Abdi Stadium, El Jadida (Morocco)
Attendance: 250
Referee: Godfrey Nkhakananga (Malawi)
| Egypt | 2–1 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Guinea-Bissau | 0–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Referee: Djindo Louis Houngnandande (Benin)
| Guinea-Bissau | 1–1 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Referee: Mahmood Ali Mahmood Ismail (Sudan)
| Burkina Faso | 2–2 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako (Mali)
Referee: Lahlou Benbraham (Algeria)
| Sierra Leone | 3–1 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, Paynesville (Liberia)
Attendance: 6,443
Referee: Daniel Nii Laryea (Ghana)
| Burkina Faso | 4–1 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Ben M'Hamed El Abdi Stadium, El Jadida (Morocco)
Attendance: 244
Referee: Abdel Aziz Bouh (Mauritania)
| Guinea-Bissau | 1–2 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Egypt | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Referee: Ahmad Heeralall (Mauritius)
| Guinea-Bissau | 1–1 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Referee: Clement Franklin Kpan (Ivory Coast)
| Djibouti | 0–6 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Estádio 24 de Setembro, Bissau (Guinea-Bissau)
Referee: Younoussa Tawel Camara (Guinea)
| Guinea-Bissau | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Referee: Aklesso Gnama (Togo)
| Sierra Leone | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, Paynesville (Liberia)
Referee: Yannick Malala (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
| Burkina Faso | 0–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Referee: Messie Nkounkou (Republic of Congo)
| Ethiopia | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Amahoro Stadium, Kigali (Rwanda)
Referee: Jelly Alfred Chavani (South Africa)
| Sierra Leone | 0–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, Paynesville (Liberia)
Attendance: 406
Referee: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo (DR Congo)
| Burkina Faso | 3–1 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Referee: Adalbert Diouf (Senegal)
| Djibouti | 1–2 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Larbi Zaouli Stadium, Casablanca (Morocco)
Referee: Thulani Sibandze (Eswatini)
| Egypt | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Goalscorers
There were 77 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 2.57 goals per match.
9 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Cyriaque Irié
Blati Touré
Abdichakour Farah
Ibrahim Adel
Mohamed Hamdy
Omar Marmoush
Mostafa Mohamed
Biniam Ayten
Ramkel James
Minyelu Wondimu
Zidane Banjaqui
Fali Candé
Iano Imbeni
Tamble Monteiro
Mauro Rodrigues
Juma Bah
Amadou Bakayoko
Mustapha Bundu
Curtis Davies
Kei Kamara
Momoh Kamara
Musa Noah Kamara
Alhassan Koroma
Sallieu Tarawallie
Ibrahim Turay
Discipline
A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following infractions:[3]
- Receiving a red card (red card suspensions could be extended for serious infractions)
- Receiving two yellow cards in two different matches (yellow card suspensions were carried forward to further qualification rounds, but not the finals or any other future international matches)
The following suspensions were served during the group stage:
| Team | Player | Infraction(s) | Suspended for match(es) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Issoufou Dayo | vs Guinea-Bissau (24 March 2025) | ||
| Ismahila Ouédraogo | vs Egypt (6 June 2024) | ||
| Steeve Yago | vs Djibouti (5 September 2025) | ||
| Ahmed Aden | vs Burkina Faso (21 March 2025) | ||
| Yabe Siad | vs Guinea-Bissau (8 September 2025) | ||
| Marwan Attia | vs Ethiopia (5 September 2025) | ||
| Marcelo Djaló | vs Sierra Leone (20 March 2025) | ||
| Houboulang Mendes | vs Ethiopia (6 June 2024) | ||
| Alfa Semedo | vs Sierra Leone (4 September 2025) | ||
| Tyrese Fornah | vs Djibouti (5 June 2024) vs Burkina Faso (10 June 2024) | ||
| Abdul Jarju Kabia | vs Djibouti (5 June 2024) |
References
- ^ "CAF Executive Committee approves FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers calendar and announces TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Côte d'Ivoire 2023 Final Draw date". CAF Online. CAF. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "CAF reveals new format for 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers". CAF Online. CAF. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "Regulations: FIFA World Cup 2026 Preliminary Competition" (PDF). FIFA. June 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.