{"id":83642,"date":"2023-07-13T11:05:56","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T11:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/07\/13\/ghana-to-know-group-opponents-today\/"},"modified":"2023-07-13T11:05:56","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T11:05:56","slug":"ghana-to-know-group-opponents-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/07\/13\/ghana-to-know-group-opponents-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghana to know group opponents today"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Black Stars <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The Black\u00a0Stars will know their opponents for the qualifiers of the 2026 World Cup to be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada later today.<\/p>\n

The draw, which will involve Ghana and 53 other African countries, will be conducted at the Sofitel Hotel in Abidjan, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire.<\/p>\n

The draw will be broadcasted live on CAF digital platforms and CAFONLINE.com at 15:00 GMT. It will occur shortly after the 45th CAF Ordinary Assembly, which will be held in Abidjan.<\/p>\n

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The 54 teams have been grouped into six pots, a decision that was arrived at due to the latest FIFA ranking which was released earlier this month. Teams ranked in the CAF\u2019s top eight will be in pot 1, from 9-16 in pot 2 and so on.<\/p>\n

Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, Cameroon, Mali and Egypt find themselves in pot one. Four times African Cup of Nations (AFCON) winners, Ghana miss out on a place in pot one.<\/p>\n

The Black Stars are pitted in pot two alongside South Africa, and Burkina Faso, among other countries. Ghana will hope to secure a place in the Mundial for the fifth time.<\/p>\n

This positioning means they could potentially face their longtime rivals, Nigeria, in the qualifying campaign.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Ghana could also encounter strong opponents such as Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Cameroon, Mali, and Ivory Coast.<\/p>\n

In the draw, the teams will be drawn into nine groups of six teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The winner of each group will qualify for the World Cup.<\/p>\n

However, the best four second-placed teams from across all nine groups will enter into a continental play-off to determine one winner who will then proceed to a second and final play-off which will include six teams from the other different confederations.<\/p>\n

The top two of these six will qualify for the World Cup to make up the 48 teams.<\/p>\n

The qualifiers are scheduled to start in November later this year. Matchday one and two are scheduled for between 13-21 November, while the third and fourth match days are scheduled for June 2024.<\/p>\n

The last match day will be in the week of October 6-14 while the Continental play-off will be staged between 10-18 November 2025 at a venue to be communicated later.<\/p>\n

At the Qatar World Cup last year, Africa was represented by Morocco, Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana and Tunisia.<\/p>\n

Morocco finished fourth and made history by becoming the first-ever African country to reach the semi-finals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Below are the Pots<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Pot 1: Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, Cameroon, Mali, Egypt, Ivory Coast<\/p>\n

Pot 2:\u00a0Ghana, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Guinea, Zambia, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea<\/p>\n

Pot 3: Angola, Benin, Kenya, Mauritania, Congo, Uganda, Madagascar, Guinea Bissau, Namibia<\/p>\n

Pot 4: Mozambique, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Malawi, Libya<\/p>\n

Pot 5: Niger, Comoros, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Botswana, Liberia<\/p>\n

Pot 6: Lesotho, South Sudan, Mauritius, Chad, Sao Tome, Djibouti, Seychelles, Eritrea, Somalia<\/p>\n

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