2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group H

The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group H was a CAF qualifying group for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The group contained Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, Malawi, Liberia and São Tomé and Príncipe.

The group winners, Tunisia, directly qualified for the World Cup. The group runners-up, Namibia, were eliminated as one of the five worst runners-up.[1][2]

Standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Tunisia Namibia Liberia Malawi Equatorial Guinea São Tomé and Príncipe
1  Tunisia 10 9 1 0 22 0 +22 28 2026 FIFA World Cup — 3−0 3–0 2–0 1–0 4–0
2  Namibia 10 4 3 3 13 10 +3 15 0–0 — 1–1 1–2 1–1 3–0
3  Liberia 10 4 3 3 13 11 +2 15 0–1 3–1 — 0–1 3–0[a] 2–1
4  Malawi 10 4 1 5 11 10 +1 13 0–1 0–1 2–2 — 3–0[b] 3–1
5  Equatorial Guinea 10 3 2 5 8 15 −7 11 0–1 0–3[a] 1–1 1–0 — 2–0
6  São Tomé and Príncipe 10 1 0 9 5 26 −21 3 0–6 0–2 0–1 1–0 2–3 —
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Equatorial Guinea forfeited two matches after they fielded an ineligible player, Emilio Nsue.[3] The original results were Equatorial Guinea 1–0 Namibia and Liberia 0–1 Equatorial Guinea.
  2. ^ The match between Malawi and Equatorial Guinea on 9 October was cancelled[4] after Equatorial Guinea's players went on strike and refused to travel over continued complaints over conditions and money: Equatorial Guinea head coach Juan Micha and several players were fired following the cancellation.[5] FIFA updated the group standings to indicate a 3–0 forfeit win to Malawi without making an official statement.[6]

Matches

Equatorial Guinea 0–3
Awarded[A]		 Namibia
  • Nsue 67'
 Report
Referee: Ali Sabilla (Uganda)
Liberia 0–1 Malawi
Report
  • Mphasi 78'
Referee: Antoine Effa (Cameroon)
Tunisia 4–0 São Tomé and Príncipe
 Report
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Joseph Odey Ogabor (Nigeria)
Liberia 3–0
Awarded[A]		 Equatorial Guinea
Report
Attendance: 3,044
Referee: Karim Sabry (Morocco)
Malawi 0–1 Tunisia
Report
Attendance: 23,000
Referee: Aklesso Gnama (Togo)
São Tomé and Príncipe 0–2 Namibia
Report
Referee: Ousmane Diakate (Mali)
Namibia 1–1 Liberia
 Report
Referee: Messie Jessie Oved Nkounkou Mvoutou (Congo)
Tunisia 1–0 Equatorial Guinea
 Report
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Abongile Tom (South Africa)
Malawi 3–1 São Tomé and Príncipe
 Report
  • Silva 67'
Attendance: 14,000
Referee: Ahmed Arajiga (Tanzania)
São Tomé and Príncipe 0–1 Liberia
Report
  • Sesay 90'
Honor Stadium, Oujda (Morocco)
Referee: Andofetra Rakotojaona (Madagascar)
Namibia 0–0 Tunisia
Report
Referee: Dahane Beida (Mauritania)
Equatorial Guinea 1–0 Malawi
 Report
Referee: Lamin Jammeh (Gambia)
Liberia 0–1 Tunisia
Report
Referee: Clement Franklin Kpan (Ivory Coast)
Malawi 0–1 Namibia
Report
Attendance: 17,706
Referee: Jelly Alfred Chavani (South Africa)
Equatorial Guinea 2–0 São Tomé and Príncipe
 Report
Referee: Adissa Abdul Raphiou Ligali (Benin)
Namibia 1–1 Equatorial Guinea
 Report
Referee: Mohamed Marouf (Egypt)
Liberia 2–1 São Tomé and Príncipe
 Report
  • Dola 44'
Attendance: 13,025
Referee: Mohamed Ali Moussa (Niger)
Tunisia 2–0 Malawi
 Report
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Djindo Louis Houngnandande (Benin)
São Tomé and Príncipe 2–3 Equatorial Guinea
 Report
Honor Stadium, Oujda (Morocco)
Referee: Hillary Hambaba (Zambia)
Tunisia 3–0 Liberia
 Report
Attendance: 27,000
Referee: Adissa Abdul Raphiou Ligali (Benin)
Namibia 1–2 Malawi
  • Ndeunyema 86'
 Report
Referee: Abdulrazg Ahmed (Libya)
Equatorial Guinea 0–1 Tunisia
Report Ben Romdhane 90+4'
Referee: Patrice Milazare (Mauritius)
Malawi 2–2 Liberia
 Report Kosiah 3', 61'
Referee: Ring Nyier Akech Malong (South Sudan)
Namibia 3–0 São Tomé and Príncipe
Shalulile 41', 66', 71' Report
Referee: Brahamou Sadou Ali (Niger)
Malawi 3–0
Awarded[B]		 Equatorial Guinea
Report
Liberia 3–1 Namibia
 Report
  • Ndeunyema 87'
Referee: Lahlou Benbraham (Algeria)
São Tomé and Príncipe 0–6 Tunisia
Report
Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Andofetra Rakotojaona (Madagascar)
Equatorial Guinea 1–1 Liberia
 Report
  • Andrews 27'
Referee: Brighton Chimene (Zimbabwe)
São Tomé and Príncipe 1–0 Malawi
 Report
Referee: Jean Pierre Nguiene (Congo)
Tunisia 3–0 Namibia
 Report
Referee: Issa Sy (Senegal)

Goalscorers

There were 65 goals scored in 29 matches, for an average of 2.24 goals per match.

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following infractions:[7]

  • Receiving a red card (red card suspensions could be extended for serious infractions)
  • Receiving two yellow cards in two different matches (yellow card suspensions were carried forward to further qualification rounds, but not the finals or any other future international matches)

The following suspensions were served during the group stage:

Team Player Infraction(s) Suspended for match(es)
 Equatorial Guinea Carlos Akapo Yellow card vs Tunisia (5 June 2024)
Yellow card vs Namibia (24 March 2025)		 vs São Tomé and Príncipe 4 (September 2025)
Josete Miranda Yellow card vs Namibia (15 November 2023)
Yellow card vs Liberia (20 November 2023)		 vs Tunisia (5 June 2024)
Iban Salvador Yellow card vs Namibia (15 November 2023)
Yellow card vs Liberia (20 November 2023)		 vs Tunisia (5 June 2024)
 Liberia Sampson Dweh Yellow card vs São Tomé and Príncipe (9 June 2024)
Yellow card vs São Tomé and Príncipe (24 March 2025)		 vs Tunisia (4 September 2025)
Nohan Kenneh Yellow card Yellow-red card vs Equatorial Guinea (20 November 2023) vs Namibia (5 June 2024)
 Malawi Lloyd Aaron Yellow card vs Equatorial Guinea (10 June 2024)
Yellow card Yellow-red card vs Tunisia (24 March 2025)		 vs Namibia (5 September 2025)
 Namibia Ivan Kamberipa Yellow card vs Equatorial Guinea (15 November 2023)
Yellow card vs Tunisia (9 June 2024)		 vs Malawi (20 March 2025)
 São Tomé and Príncipe Denilson Silva Yellow card vs Tunisia (17 November 2023)
Yellow card vs Namibia (21 November 2023)		 vs Malawi (6 June 2024)
 Tunisia Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane Yellow card vs Equatorial Guinea (5 June 2024)
Yellow card vs Liberia (19 March 2025)		 vs Malawi (24 March 2025)

Notes

  1. ^ a b Equatorial Guinea forfeited their first two matches of the group for fielding an ineligible player.[3] The original results were Equatorial Guinea 1–0 Namibia and Liberia 0–1 Equatorial Guinea.
  2. ^ The match between Malawi and Equatorial Guinea on 9 October was cancelled "due to unforeseen travel complications affecting the visiting team."[4] Equatorial Guinea head coach Juan Micha was sacked and several players were removed from the active squad following the cancellation.[5]

References

  1. ^ "CAF Executive Committee approves FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers calendar and announces TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Côte d'Ivoire 2023 Final Draw date". CAF Online. CAF. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  2. ^ "CAF reveals new format for 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers". CAF Online. CAF. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b Dunbar, Graham (24 May 2024). "Equatorial Guinea must default wins in World Cup qualifying over same ineligible player as in 2013". apnews.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b "FAM Statement on Malawi vs Equatorial Guinea Match". Football Association of Malawi. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Coach, players fired after Equatorial Guinea fail to pitch for World Cup tie". Reuters. 12 October 2025. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  6. ^ "CAF Standings". FIFA. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  7. ^ "Regulations: FIFA World Cup 2026 Preliminary Competition" (PDF). FIFA. June 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
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