The Malawi National Football Team has been drawn in Group H for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Africa Qualifying Groups Draw that took place at the 45th CAF Ordinary Assembly currently underway in Ivory Coast.
The Flames, who will play Lesotho on Friday in the semifinals of the 2023 COSAFA Cup in South Africa, will face Tunisia, Namibia, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Liberia.
How does qualifying work?
- Seeding: The 54 nations of the CAF (African Football Confederation) were divided into six pots according to their ranking.
Group Stage Draw: Teams have been divided into nine groups, each group consisting of six teams.
Round-Robin Format: The nine groups will play in a round-robin format, where each team will play the others in its group.
Group Winners – The winner of each group will qualify directly for the FIFA 26 World Cup.
- Knockout Phase: The top four group winners will compete in the knockout phase to determine the CAF representative in the FIFA knockout phase competition.
- FIFA Playoffs: The FIFA Playoffs will include one team from each of the six FIFA confederations, excluding UEFA, plus one additional team from the host confederation (CONCACAF).
Selection of teams for the qualifiers: two of the six teams that will participate in the qualifiers will be determined according to the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.
Play-offs: The teams that advance from the play-offs will face the winners of the first two play-offs involving the four unqualified teams to compete for FIFA World Cup qualification.
The qualifiers will begin in November this year.
