2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group E
The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group E was a CAF qualifying group for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The group contained Morocco, Zambia, Congo, Tanzania and Niger.
Eritrea were drawn into the group but withdrew before the first matches were played.
Congo were suspended on 6 February 2025 due to government interference in Congolese Football Federation operations.[1][2] No announcement regarding their status was immediately available, and CAF initially cancelled their remaining matches.[3] However, Tanzania and Zambia were later awarded 3–0 victories by forfeit.[4] The suspension was lifted by FIFA on 14 May 2025.[5]
The group winners, Morocco, directly qualified for the World Cup. The group runners-up, Niger, were eliminated as one of the five worst runners-up.[6][7]
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morocco
|
8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 2 | +20 | 24 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 5–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | ||
| 2 | Niger
|
8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 15 | 1–2 | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | |||
| 3 | Tanzania
|
8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 10 | 0–2 | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | 3–0[a] | |||
| 4 | Zambia
|
8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 4–2 | |||
| 5 | Congo[a]
|
8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 24 | −20 | 1 | 0–6 | 0–3[b] | 1–1 | 0–3[a] | — | |||
| 6 | Eritrea[c]
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew | — |
- ^ a b c Congo were suspended on 6 February 2025 due to government interference in Congolese Football Federation operations.[1][2] No announcement regarding their status was immediately available, and CAF initially cancelled their remaining matches, [3] but Tanzania and Zambia were later awarded 3–0 victories by forfeit.[4] The suspension was lifted by FIFA on 14 May 2025.[5]
- ^ Niger were awarded a 3–0 victory by forfeit after Congo objected to their regular stadium being deemed to not meet hosting requirements and refused to travel to DR Congo for the match.[8]
- ^ Eritrea withdrew from qualification after the draw due to concerns that players would seek political asylum if allowed to travel abroad.[9][10][11]
Matches
| Eritrea | Cancelled | Congo |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Congo | 0–3 Awarded[a] | Niger |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Zambia | 0–1 | Tanzania |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Niger | 3–1 | Congo |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Morocco | 1–0 | Congo |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Goalscorers
There were 44 goals scored in 17 matches, for an average of 2.59 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
- Bakari Mwamnyeto (against Morocco)
Discipline
A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following infractions:[12]
- 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morocco |
Achraf Hakimi |  vs Tanzania (21 November 2023) vs Niger (21 March 2025) |
vs Tanzania (25 March 2025) |
| Niger |
Salifou Massoudi | vs Tanzania (18 November 2023) vs Zambia (21 November 2023) |
vs Morocco (21 March 2025) |
| Abdoul Latif Djibril |  vs Morocco (5 September 2025) |
vs Tanzania (9 September 2025) vs Congo (8 October 2025) | |
| Tanzania |
Novatus Miroshi | vs Niger (18 November 2023) vs Morocco (21 November 2023) |
vs Zambia (11 June 2024) |
| Zambia |
Kings Kangwa | vs Morocco (7 June 2024) vs Tanzania (11 June 2024) |
vs Morocco (8 September 2025) |
Notes
References
- ^ a b c "Suspension of the Congolese Football Association (FECOFOOT) from 6 February 2025 until further notice" (PDF). FIFA Circular. No. 1922. 6 February 2025. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ^ a b "FIFA suspends Congo Republic and Pakistan". Reuters. 7 February 2025. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ^ a b "Schedule & Results". CAFonline.com. CAF. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
- ^ a b c "Scores & Fixtures". FIFA.
- ^ a b "Lifting of the suspension of the Congolese Football Association (FECOFOOT)" (PDF). FIFA Circular. No. 1933. 14 May 2025. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b "FIFA awards win to Niger after Congo no-show in World Cup qualifier". The Straits Times. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ "Eritrea Pull Out Of 2026 World Cup Qualifier". Dehai News. Dehai News. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
- ^ Aarons, Ed; Cizmic, Alex (14 November 2023). "Eritrea withdrew from 2026 World Cup qualifying 'over fears players will flee'". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ "Eritrea withdraw from FIFA World Cup qualifiers". FIFA. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ^ "Regulations: FIFA World Cup 2026 Preliminary Competition" (PDF). FIFA. June 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.