But this week’s playoff games are the first time they have not been held over two legs, but instead as single clashes at a neutral venue.
Thursday sees the latest playoff contest as four teams – Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and Nigeria – play off for the possibility of a berth at the 2026 World Cup finals.
They are the four best runners-up after the group qualification competition finished last month, and it is also the first time in African qualification history that group runners-up have been handed a second chance.
Gabon and Nigeria clash first in Rabat, followed by a second semi-final between the Indomitable Lions and the Leopards, with the winners meeting on Sunday to see who advances to the six-nation Play-Off Tournament during the international match window from 23–31 March.
African qualification for the last World Cup had playoffs as the final decisive round when the winners of the 10 groups were paired off into five playoff ties, and the two-legged winners – Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia – advanced to the finals in Qatar.
Cameroon qualified for an African record eighth time by beating Algeria on the away-goals rule, as did Ghana over Nigeria. Senegal edged out Egypt in a post-match penalty shootout, while Tunisia had a narrow two-legged triumph over Mali courtesy of an own goal. Only Morocco were convincing as they overcame DR Congo 5–2 on aggregate.
Playoffs were also used after the group phase for the 2014 finals in Brazil, with Algeria edging Burkina Faso on the away-goals rule; Cameroon again beating Tunisia; Côte d’Ivoire overcoming Senegal; Ghana having an emphatic victory over Egypt; and Nigeria beating Ethiopia home and away.
When Egypt became the first African country to qualify for a World Cup in 1934, they did so in a playoff against Palestine, winning both legs in Cairo and Jerusalem for an 11–2 aggregate triumph.
But the next time they were in a decisive qualification playoff, the Egyptians were not as successful, losing 7–2 on aggregate to Italy after defeat in both Cairo and Milan and missing out on the 1954 finals in Switzerland.
For the 1962 finals in Chile, there was an Afro-European playoff that saw Spain edge Morocco 4–2 and an Afro-Asian playoff where Israel beat Ethiopia by the same aggregate scoreline.
From 1974 onwards, African teams have not had to play cross-continental matches to secure World Cup qualification (which has now changed for the 2026 finals), but for the 1990 finals there were again decisive playoffs within the African preliminaries.
The qualification field was whittled down from 26 entrants to 16 teams in a knockout round, after which qualification proceeded in four groups of four.
The group winners were then paired into two playoff ties, which saw Egypt edge Algeria, while Cameroon had a more comfortable aggregate win over Tunisia to take up the continent’s two places at the tournament in Italy.