2026 World Cup qualifiers: Ghana's Asamoah Gyan named among African legends to conduct draw
Ghana’s all-time leading goal scorer, Asamoah Gyan has been named among African legends that will conduct the 2026 World Cup African qualifying draw.
The draw will be held in Ivorian capital of Abidjan later today.
The draw which will involve Ghana and 53 other African countries will be conducted at the Sofitel Hotel.
The draw will be broadcasted live on CAF digital platforms and CAFONLINE.com at 15:00 GMT. It will occur shortly after the 45th CAF Ordinary Assembly.
The 54 teams have been grouped into six pots that was arrived at due to the latest FIFA ranking which was released earlier this month. Teams ranked in the CAF’s top 8 will be in pot 1, from 9-16 in pot 2 and so on.
Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, Cameroon, Mali and Egypt find themselves in pot one. Four times African Cup of Nations (AFCON) winners, Ghana miss out on a place in pot one.
The Black Stars are pitted in pot two alongside South Africa, and Burkina Faso, among other countries. Ghana will hope to secure a place in the Mundial for the fifth time.
This positioning means they could potentially face their longtime rivals, Nigeria, in the qualifying campaign.
Additionally, Ghana could also encounter strong opponents such as Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Cameroon, Mali, and Ivory Coast.
Among those invited are some African champions as well as some famous players who excelled at the World Cup.
From Senegal’s Elhadji Diouf to Cote d’Ivoire’s revered Didier Drogba, alongside notable personalities like Togo’s Emmanuel Adebayor, the cream of African football’s elite will be present.
Other esteemed guests are Jay Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Alexandre Song (Cameroon), Wael Gomaa (Egypt), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Khalilou Fadiga (Senegal), Geremi Njitap (Cameroon), Houssine Kharja (Morocco), and Youri Djorkaeff (France).
Prominent Ivorian legends like Didier Zokora, Siaka Tiene, Aruna Dindane, Cyril Domoraud, Alain Gouamene, Abdoulaye Traore, Emmanuel Eboue, Ahmed Ouattara, Bonaventure Kalou, and many others will also be present.
Below are the Pots
Pot 1: Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, Cameroon, Mali, Egypt, Ivory Coast
Pot 2: Ghana, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Guinea, Zambia, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea
Pot 3: Angola, Benin, Kenya, Mauritania, Congo, Uganda, Madagascar, Guinea Bissau, Namibia
Pot 4: Mozambique, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Malawi, Libya
Pot 5: Niger, Comoros, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Botswana, Liberia
Pot 6: Lesotho, South Sudan, Mauritius, Chad, Sao Tome, Djibouti, Seychelles, Eritrea, Somalia
The top two of these six will qualify for the World Cup to make up the 48 teams.
The qualifiers are scheduled to start in November later this year. Matchday one and two are scheduled for between 13-21 November, while the third and fourth match days are scheduled for June 2024.
The last match day will be in the week of October 6-14 while the Continental play-off will be staged between 10-18 November 2025 at a venue to be communicated later.
