Did Nigeria make the playoffs?

Explanation
With the expanded system of the 2026 World Cup holding in USA/Canada/Mexico, nine teams will be representing Africa (CAF) Instead of the traditional five.

Teams were drawn into nine (9) Groups with six (6) teams each, playing one another on a home and away basis. The winner of each group will directly qualify to the World Cup, while the four best runners-up will participate in play-offs to determine which team will advance to the Inter-confederation play-offs.

With Egypt, Cape Verde, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana and now South-Africa automatically through to the World Cup, the race for the playoffs take shape.

Recent calculation change
Following Eritrea’s voluntary withdrawal in Group E, CAF & FIFA revised the ranking formula to provide for fairness. In March 2025, the rule was announced thus:- Whenever a group has fewer than six teams due to withdrawal or disqualification, results against the lowest-ranked or withdrawn teams will not be considered when determining the best runners-up.

For the playoff/second-placed rank teams,
Before Points DEDUCTION, The table as it stands:-

Gabon (9 games) – GD (+11) – 22 points – Group F “game ongoing”
Burkina Faso (10 games) – GD (+15) – 21 points – Group A
Cameroon (10 games) – GD (+12) – 19 points – Group D
Congo DR (9 games) – GD (+8 – 19 points – Group B “game ongoing”
Madagascar (10 games) – GD (+5) – 19 points – Group I
Uganda (10 games) – GD (+5) – 18 points – Group G
Nigeria (10 games) – GD (+7) – 17 points – Group C
Namibia (10 games) – GD (+3) – 15 points – Group H
Niger (8 games) – GD (+1) – 15 points – Group E

Following the points deduction, against lowest-ranked teams

Gabon defeated lowly-placed Seychelles both home and away and will see 6points taken off, they settle with 16 poimzs

Burkina Faso walloped lowest-placed team DjiBouti (6-0) & (4-1). 6 points yanked off ….they settle with 15 points

Congo DR beat South Sudan on both legs and gets a -6 points tally, new tally is 13 points

Uganda defeated Somalia on both legs and see 6 points taken away from their tally – now settle with 12 points

Namibia got the better off Sale Tome & Principe on both legs and gets a -6 points – new score = 12 points

Madagascar beat Chad on both legs and gets a -6 points tally with a new total score of 13 points

2 points will be taken off Nigeria since the Super Eagles played a 1-all draw against the lowest-ranked side, Zimbabwe both at home and in Harare, Nigeria now settles with 15 points.

Cameroon took 4 points from Eswatini and see total tally = 15 points

Outlier
Gabon is one point behind Cote D’Ivoire
Cote d’Ivoire (beat Seychelles on two legs) will also get -6 points if they finish second.

The standings take a different shape with:-
Gabon/Cote d’Ivoire
Congo DR/Burkina Faso
Nigeria – 15 points
Cameroon – 15 points

taking the four playoff spots

CAF PlayOff System
These four teams will face off knockout style in a two semi-final format. How they face each other will be dependent on FIFA’s October 23 team ranking. The highest ranked side will face the least-ranked of the four in SF1, whilst the other two meet each other in SF2. It is one-legged, resulting in extra time and penalties If it ends in a draw.
Venue: Morocco
Date: SF1 and SF2 matches will take place on 13/11/2025
Final: SF1 v SF2 will be on 16/11/2025

The winner progresses to the InterContinental PlayOff whilst others go home.

InterContinental PlayOff Spot
The CAF playoff winner will join one team apiece from Asia, South America, Oceania and two from Latin & Central America (CONCACAF) in a mini-tournament.

According to the FIFA rankings, all six teams will be placed in two brackets with the two highest ranked teams called the “SEEDED TEAMS” and the lowest four the “UNSEEDED TEAMS”. Placed in two groups with each getting a SEEDED TEAM and 2 UNSEEDED teams each.

SF*: UnSeeded A in Group 1 vs UnSeeded B in Group 2
SF**: UnSeeded C in Group 1 vs UnSeeded D in Group 2

Final1: Winner of SF* vs Seeded Team1
Final2: Winner of SF** vs Seeded Team 2

The winners of Final 1 & Final 2 take the last two spots to the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Venue: Mexico
Date: 23-31 March, 2026

Bolivia (CONMEBOL) for South America and New Caledonia (Oceania) are already through to the Intercontinental PlayOffs.