Ouagadougou: The Burkina Faso Stallions saw their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup African play-offs fade after DR Congo's 1-0 victory over Sudan in Group B.
According to Burkina Information Agency, prior to DR Congo's decisive match against Sudan, Burkina Faso was positioned among the four best runners-up in the nine groups of the African zone qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. However, following the results, the teams advancing to the play-offs are Cameroon, Gabon, Nigeria, and DR Congo. These teams will compete to determine the continent's representative in an upcoming intercontinental competition.
The remaining African teams will participate in a mini-tournament consisting of semi-finals and a final, set to take place in Morocco in mid-November. The matchups were not based on points accumulated during the qualifiers but instead were determined by FIFA rankings. This system has set Nigeria, ranked 45th, against Gabon, ranked 79th, and Cameroon, ranked 52nd, against DR Congo, ranked 60th.