Cosmin Olăroiu found out his possible opponents for World Cup qualification! Nigeria and Cameroon play their WC 2026 qualifier

Nigeria will meet Gabon and Cameroon will face the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the FIFA rankings published on Friday.

The best 2nd place teams advance

The four nations qualified for the play-off stage as the best second-placed teams in their African qualifying groups.

Victory in the play-offs will give them the chance to participate in the intercontinental play-off tournament in March 2026, where the last two tickets to the World Cup will be determined from Canada, Mexico and the USA.

How the duels were settled

The pairing was made based on the FIFA rankings: the best-placed team would meet the lowest-placed team, while the remaining two teams would play each other.

In the current world ranking:

• Nigeria – 41st place

• Cameroon – 54th place

• DR Congo – 60th place

• Gabon – 77th place

The semi-finals of the African pool will take place on November 13, with the final scheduled three days later. Morocco will host this phase of the competition, although the exact locations of the matches have yet to be determined.

Who has already qualified for the WC 2026

The groups of the African qualifiers concluded on Tuesday, with the winners of the nine groups qualifying directly for the final tournament:

• Morocco

• Tunisia

• Egypt

• Algeria

• Ghana

• Cape Verde Islands

• South Africa

• Senegal

• Ivory Coast

Cosmin Olăroiu, immediately after the United Arab Emirates – Qatar: “I feel a great disappointment”

Cosmin Olăroiu offered a short reaction at the end of the game: “I feel a great disappointment after the defeat suffered against Qatar, but we look with hope towards the continuation of the dream through the next match”.

Qatar opened the scoring in the 49th minute through Khoukhi. They doubled their lead through Pedro Miguel, who scored in the 74th minute, and a conflict between fans and players broke out on the pitch soon after. Adil reduced the deficit for the Emirates in extra time, but there was no time left for the equaliser.