The Warriors have been given the green light to participate in the tournament after FIFA lifted the country’s 18-month suspension yesterday.

The official draw for the Africa qualifiers was made just hours after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) General Assembly held in Ivory Coast.

A total of 54 African nations were split into nine groups of six, with the journey to the 2026 FIFA World Cup set to be staged across Canada, Mexico and the United States scheduled to begin in November.

Zimbabwe have been drawn in Group C along with Nigeria and South Africa as well as Benin, Rwanda and Lesotho.

Morocco, who made history by becoming the first African country to reach the World Cup semi-finals following their run at Qatar 2022, will begin their campaign in Group E.

Zambia, Congo, Tanzania, Niger and Eritrea have also been placed in Morocco’s group.

Reigning African Cup of Nations champions Senegal headline Group B that features Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritania, Togo, Sudan and South Sudan.

Egypt have been placed in Group A along with Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

Cameroon will be hoping to qualify for another World Cup having been dropped in Group D alongside Cape Verde, Angola, Libya, Eswatini and Mauritius.

Group F comprises of Ivory Coast, Gabon, Kenya, The Gambia, Burundi and Seychelles, while Group G includes Algeria, Guinea, Uganda, Mozambique, Botswana and Somalia.

Tunisia will be aim to top Group H that also features Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, Malawi, Liberia and Sao Tome and Principe.

Mali and Ghana have been named in Group I along with Madagascar, Central African Republic, Comoros and Chad.

Matches are due to run from November 13 in 2023 to October 14 in 2025, with the winners of each group automatically qualifying for the World Cup.

The four best runners-up will go into a CAF playoff tournament, scheduled to be held in November 2025, with winner advancing to the FIFA playoff tournament, due to be staged in March 2026, that could see Africa secure a 10th slot at the World Cup.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino was among those to attend the CAF General Assembly where he revealed the launch of the new African Football League.

The eight-team tournament is expected to start on October 20 and run alongside CAF’s Champions League.

Infantino did not reveal the participating teams but said the event would be "followed in the future with a bigger version".

"We have to invest in African club football as well as national team football," said Infantino.

"It is our responsibility, duty and task, and with the work and contribution of all of us as a team, we will succeed."

The CAF claimed that an increase in sponsorship and television rights had led to a growth of 17 per cent in commercial revenues, rising to $125.2 million (£95.3 million/€111.5 million).

"We’ve always believed that the success and growth of football on the African continent is dependent on the success and growth of football in each member association country," said CAF President Patrice Motsepe.

"Building partnerships with sponsors, investors and Governments is essential for the competitiveness and growth of football in each African country.

"The prize monies of all major CAF competitions have been increased significantly over the past two years and this has contributed to improving the quality and competitiveness of our competitions."

Augustin Senghor of Senegal, Pierre Alain Mounguengui of Gabon, Kossi Akpovy of Togo, Walter Nyamilandu Manda of Malawi, Mutasim Gafar Sirelkhatim of Sudan and Abdulhakim Al Shelmani of Libya were elected onto the CAF Executive Committee, securing four-year terms that are set to run until 2027.

Magogo Moses Hassim of Uganda, Mokhosi Phillip Mohabi of Lesotho, Mohamad Ally Sobha of Mauritius, Lazare Bansse of Burkina Faso and Zefizef Djahid Abledwahab of Algeria were unsuccessful in their bids following a vote at the General Assembly.