HARARE – Zimbabwe will face neighbours South Africa and African giants Nigeria, among its Group C opponents in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers to cap the country’s inspiring return to international football following the lifting of its ban this week.

The other teams in the six-nation group are Benin, Rwanda and Lesotho.

The draw was conducted in Abidjan, Ivory Coast after the Confederation of African Football’s (Caf) general assembly there on Thursday.

The World Cup qualifiers begin in November and finish in October next year.

The winners of nine six-team groups qualify from Africa for the next World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico, which has been expanded from 32 to 48 teams.

The four best runners-up go into a playoff to decide one team to compete in a further intercontinental playoff tournament consisting of six sides from all the confederations except Uefa.

The 2026 World Cup sees nine guaranteed places for African teams, up from five in the 32-team format. A 10th team from the continent can qualify via the playoffs.

South Africa, coincidentally, were Zimbabwe’s opponents in qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup under the warriors’ unpopular Croatian mentor Zdravko Logarusic in September 2021.

The Warriors played to a disappointing goalless draw at the National Sports Stadium before they lost the reverse fixture 0-1 at FNB Stadium in November 2021.

Zimbabwe has never qualified for the World Cup finals.

The closest the country has ever been to a World Cup spot was back in 1994 under late legendary German gaffer Reinhard Fabisch’s Dream Team when they were knocked out by Cameroon with just 90 minutes separating the squad from a ticket to the USA finals.

Although qualifying few other times for the Africa Cup of Nations, Zimbabwe Senior Men’s Football Team, later renamed The Warriors, have failed to replicate the sublime performance of the early 1990s when the team used to beat opponents like Cameroon and Egypt.

WORLD CUP QUALIFIER GROUPS

Caf 2026 World Cup qualifying Group C: Nigeria, South Africa, Benin, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Lesotho

OTHER GROUPS

Group A: Egypt, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Djibouti

Group B: Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritania, Togo, Sudan, South Sudan

Group D: Cameroon, Cape Verde, Angola, Libya, Eswatini, Mauritius

Group E: Morocco, Zambia, Congo, Tanzania, Niger, Eritrea                    

Group F: Ivory Coast, Gabon, Kenya, Gambia, Burundi, Seychelles

Group G: Algeria, Guinea, Uganda, Mozambique, Botswana, Somalia

Group H: Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, Malawi, Liberia, Sao Tome e Principe

Group I: Mali, Ghana, Madagascar, Central African Republic, Comoros, Chad