African qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup resume this week after a nine-month hiatus and the stakes are high for some big names.
Six rounds of the 10-match group campaign remain, and the two fixtures this month will go a long way to deciding the fate of many teams.
The nine group winners are assured of a place at the finals in Canada, Mexico and the USA.
The four best second-placed sides will have a chance to earn one final spot via play-offs.
A raft of managerial changes have occurred since the last round in June, with Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia among the sides with new coaches.
Among the heavyweights of the continental game it is Nigeria who have the greatest need for immediate results.
Winless in Group C, and languishing four points behind leaders, Rwanda, Eric Chelle assumes an already high-profile role which is amplified by difficult circumstances.
The former Mali coach becomes the first non-Nigerian African to take charge of the Super Eagles.
The West Africans travel to Kigali before hosting Zimbabwe, and Chelle accepts they are must-win encounters for the three-time African champions.
Star striker, Victor Osimhen, says he and his team-mates are “desperate” to make the finals after missing out on the 2022 edition in Qatar.
Another new boss needing positive returns is Tom Saintfiet, who looks to revive Mali’s campaign in Group I after succeeding Chelle.
The four-point gap to group leaders, Comoros, can be cut straight away as the Eagles travel to face the islanders.
Mali have never reached the World Cup finals and, after going unbeaten through preliminaries for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Saintfiet is upbeat about their hopes.
“After six matches with four wins, two draws, I’m quite positive,” the Belgian added.
“We going to try everything to write history.”
Elsewhere in Group I, Ghana will look to put their disastrous AFCON 2025 qualifying campaign behind them against Chad and Madagascar.
Corentin Martins is now in the dugout for the latter, while Rigobert Song faces his first games as Central African Republic boss.
Senegal boss, Pape Thiaw, is another man inheriting a World Cup bid after succeeding Aliou Cisse, to whom he was an assistant, last October.
The West Africans ended AFCON 2025 qualifying unbeaten and former striker, El Hadji Diouf, has been impressed by the smooth transition in the Teranga Lions hotseat.
The former continental champions are two points behind surprise Group B leaders, Sudan, and Thiaw will be without injured Premier League forwards, Nicolas Jackson and Iliman Ndiaye, for their away game against the Sudanese, which will be played in the neutral Libyan city of Benghazi, and the subsequent home tie against Togo.
Can Sudan boss, Kwasi Appiah, who has relied on the power of psychology, continue his team’s remarkable run amid ongoing conflict in the country?
Egypt have the healthiest lead of any side, with a four-point cushion at the summit of Group A.
Pharaohs’ captain, Mohamed Salah, was rested during the latter stages of the Afcon 2025 qualifying campaign, but the forward will hope to carry his rich vein of form with Liverpool into games against Ethiopia and Sierra Leone.
Salah will come up against new Leone Stars head coach, Mohammed Kallon, and the former Inter Milan and Monaco striker, has selected Manchester City’s new teenage defender, Juma Bah, and 40-year-old Kei Kamara in his first squad.
Meanwhile, Sami Trabelsi is back for a second stint in charge of Tunisia with the Carthage Eagles top of Group H by two points.
Reigning continental champions, Ivory Coast, have a one-point advantage in Group F, while new Kenya coach, Benni McCarthy, is targeting a first-ever World Cup qualification as he looks to reduce the five-point gap to the Elephants.
In Group D, Cameroon are just one point ahead of Cape Verde and Libya, who last week appointed Aliou Cisse as their new boss.
The Indomitable Lions are looking to add to their eight World Cup appearances.
As things stand, the closest group to call is Group G, where the top five sides are separated by just three points.
Vladimir Petkovic comfortably guided Algeria to qualification for Afcon 2025 but Les Verts face Mozambique and Botswana, two more teams who will be in Morocco in December.
Guinea and AFCON 2027 co-hosts Uganda are also poised to capitalise on any slip ups.
Africa’s top-ranked side Morocco have the only 100% record remaining, but the picture in Group E is complicated.
Eritrea withdrew before qualifiers kicked off and last month Congo-Brazzaville were suspended from international football by world governing body FIFA.
The Red Devils’ ties in March against Tanzania and Zambia have been cancelled, and there is little room to rearrange games in a packed international calendar, even if they somehow succeed in overturning their ban.
All eyes are now on FIFA and the Confederation of African Football for a decision on how teams finishing second in their group will be ranked heading into potential play-offs.
If Congo-Brazzaville drop out as well, then things become even more complicated and every game takes on extra meaning.
—BBC
