Africa football governing body CAF has cleared the air on what will happen in the Africa series in the world cup qualifiers following the withdrawal of Eritrea from the series, leaving their group one team short unlike other groups, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
In a circular dated March 14, 2025, and signed by CAF’s Director of Tournaments and Events, Samson Adamu, the continental body detailed revised procedures to ensure fairness in determining the four best runners-up across all groups after Eritrea’s exit reduced the number of teams in one of the qualifying pools.
CAF stated that, in the event of any withdrawal or disqualification that leaves a group with fewer than five teams, results against the bottom-ranked or withdrawn teams will not be considered when comparing second-placed teams across all groups.
The adjustment aligns with Article 11.5 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 preliminary competition regulations and ensures uniformity in selecting the four best runners-up who will contest a centralized continental playoff for a potential World Cup slot via the intercontinental play-off.
It means the Super Eagles of Nigeria who took just four points from Zimbabwe, the team at the bottom of their group unlike other second placed teams who took maximum six points from the basement team in their group.
However for this to work , the team need to win their remaining two games in the series against Lesotho and Benin Republic respectively before taking advantage of the recent adjustment.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
