FIFA’s inter-confederation playoff draw holds Nov. 20
Super Eagles’ Coach, Eric Chelle, and Fulham’s trio of Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey, and Samuel Chukwueze, Wolves’ Tolu Arokodare and new boy, Olakunle Olusegun, as well as some officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) arrived in Rabat yesterday to begin preparations for the 2026 World Cup African playoff, which begins in Morocco on Thursday.
The Super Eagles’ camp, located at Rive Hotel, Rabat, opened yesterday with some of the players expected to arrive in Rabat later in the day. The rest are expected in today.
According to the NFF, the team will begin full preparation for the opening game against Gabon today when all the invited players are expected to be in.
Nigeria, Gabon, DR Congo and Cameroon are involved in a four-team playoff with the winner qualifying for an inter-confederation playoff, which will feature five other teams from across the world.
While Nigeria will battle with Gabon on the opening game, Cameroon will take on DR Congo in the second game with the winners of both matches meeting on November 16 to decide the African representative in the inter-confederation competition.
FIFA, at the weekend, announced that the draw for the 2026 World Cup inter-confederation play-offs and the European play-offs will hold on November 20 at its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.
In a statement, FIFA confirmed that the draw will begin with the World Cup play-offs, followed by the European play-offs, to determine the participating teams in the expanded 48-team 2026 World Cup finals, to be held in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
The draws will define the routes the 22 competing nations – six via the play-Off tournament and 16 through European play-off matches – will need to successfully navigate to seal a spot at the first-ever 48-team FIFA World Cup, which will be staged in Canada, Mexico and the United States from June 11 to July 19, 2026.
The draws will take place just four days after the completion of the African playoffs, which promises to be another action-packed period as the list of qualified nations for the 23rd edition of the FIFA World Cup continues to take shape.
Twenty-eight teams have already booked their places at next year’s historic tournament, with a further 14 nations – three from CONCACAF and 11 from UEFA – set to punch their tickets to the finals via confederation qualifying this month.
The November international window will define which teams from Asia, Africa and North and Central America will join Bolivia (CONMEBOL) and New Caledonia (the OFC) at the six-nation FIFA Play-Off Tournament, as well as the 16 countries that will compete in the European Play-Offs, during the international match window from March 23 to 31, 2026.
To ensure both draws can be conducted in accordance with the relevant draw procedures, the next edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking will be published on November 19, 2025.
