African teams lose home advantage in World Cup qualifiers over substandard stadiums: summary
What we know
- Seventeen African countries hosting the 2026 World Cup qualifiers have lost an opportunity to play from their home. This comes following a decision by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to bar the use of poor stadium facilities for the competition.
- Countries including Kenya and Benin, who are listed among countries to co-host the Africa Cup of Nations finals in 2027 will not be using their stadia for the home games. Congo and Madagascar are the latest countries to be banned by CAF.
- Some countries out of the seventeen have a home game scheduled in qualification for the World Cup. The games were scheduled for June 5 and 12.
- Namibia will be playing its home games against Liberia and Tunisia in South Africa after playing their last match in the capital Windhoek in 2021. Morocco has also offered its stadiums as a playground for countries who are being forced to play home games elsewhere.
- CAF has taken a firm decision on substandard facilities over the last two years as part of efforts to force countries to improve pitch conditions and other facilities including stadium lights and changing rooms.
What they said
Namibia coach Collin Benjamin said playing games away from home will affect the team's chances of qualifying for the World Cups. "We have to get all stakeholders within the government, the private sector, everybody involved, everybody that says they've got soccer in their heart because there is no way you're going to qualify for the World Cup playing 10 matches away. It's not possible until we fix the stadiums," he was quoted as saying.
