The national senior football team, The Uganda Cranes, will again face Algeria in another campaign to qualify for a major international tournament.
This follows the draws for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in which Uganda was pooled with Algeria, Guinea, Mozambique, Botswana and Somalia in Group G. The qualifiers kick off on November 13, 2023.
Currently, The Cranes are due to conclude the qualifiers for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in which they have played Algeria twice and lost both games (0-2 and 2-1) to the North African giants.
The FIFA World Cup Qualifiers draws for the Africa region were conducted on Thursday, July 14 in Ivory Coast where CAF, the continent’s football governing body, is holding its 45th Ordinary General Assembly.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino attended the assembly as a special guest.
Unlike, Algeria, the Uganda Cranes have never played at the FIFA World Cup Finals. So, The Cranes will attempt to achieve the feat by emerging top of Group G of the qualifiers.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States of America. It will be the first for the tournament to be held in three countries and will also feature 48 teams.
Africa will be represented by nine countries compared to five that featured in the last tournament held in Qatar in 2022.
FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 QUALIFYING DRAWS
Group A: Egypt, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Djibouti
Group C: Nigeria, South Africa, Benin Rep, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Lesotho
Group B: Senegal, DR 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, The Gambia, Burundi, Seychelles
Group G: Algeria, Guinea, Uganda, Mozambique, Botswana, Somalia
Group H: Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, Malawi, Liberia, Sao Tome
Group I: Mali, Ghana, Madagascar, CAR, Comoros, Chad