The road to the FIFA 2026 World Cup starts now, with Africa set to have its highest ever allocation in the tournament — Nine African teams are guaranteed to compete in the World Cup. Another will participate in the FIFA Play-off Tournament. BetKing, Nigeria’s best online sports betting platform is here to give you well analysed and professional betting tips, coupled with the best odds to help you come out smiling at the end of the week. **Nigeria vs Lesotho** The Super Eagles of Nigeria kickstart their World Cup qualifying campaign against Lesotho at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo. Jose Peseiro’s men are in fantastic form coming into this one, with 4 wins in their last 5, and 16 goals scored in total. Despite a notable absentee in Victor Osimhen, Nigeria should have more than enough to win this comfortably, especially against a team with just 2 wins in their last 12 games. Bayer Leverkusen’s Victor Boniface, who is in impeccable form (11 goals in 15 games), Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi and Leicester City’s Kelechi heanacho are all worthy replacements. These two nations have met just twice in the past with the Super Eagles winning on both occasions (4-2, 3-0). The visitors are on a 2-game losing run and we expect them to be soundly beaten by the Super Eagles tonight. Take advantage of BetKing’s high odds by backing Nigeria to win at home and over 2.5 goals.
**Senegal vs South Sudan** Group B favourites Senegal welcome South Sudan to the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Dakar for the opening round of their 2026 World Cup Qualifying campaign. The Teranga Lions are in mixed form after just two wins in their last 5 but they have been defensively resolute, conceding just 5 goals in their last 11 games against African opposition. Sadio Mane is back in form too and the captain was on the scoresheet in Senegal’s last game, a hard-fought 1-0 win against Cameroon. This will be the first ever meeting between these two sides and Senegal are easy favorites to win this World Cup qualifier since South Sudan has won just two of their last ten games, including heavy defeats to Mali, Egypt and Ethiopia (4-0, 3-0 and 5-0). Our bet of the day is an over due to the mismatch here.
**Egypt vs Djibouti** Egypt are still hurting from their failure to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and they will be eager to make amends here. This should be one of their easier games in this group, especially at home where they have lost just once since 2021. The Pharaohs simply have too much firepower for Djibouti and Mohamed Meraneh Hassan’s side can only hope to limit the damage done by their hosts. Djibouti haven’t played a single game in over 5 months and that lack of preparation will surely make this an even harder task against one of the continents strongest sides. There have been only two meetings between these sides and Egypt won both games by the same scoreline – 4-0. We’re backing Egypt to win this one as the likes of Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush will surely prove way too much for this Djibouti side.
**Cameroon vs Mauritius** This is likely to be a very one-sided affair, with Group D favourites Cameroon hosting lowly Mauritius. Make no mistake, Cameroon are not in great form at the moment, but they should still be way too good for Mauritius. The Indomitable Lions have won just 1 in their last 7 games, failing to score in their last two but they will fancy a return to winning ways against a Mauritius side that has won just 3 in 20 games. They have also failed to win in any of their last four matches against Cameroon, falling to a 5-0 trouncing in their last meeting. Cameroon have lost just one of their last 9 games at home and will be looking to secure a big win here to take control of the group, ahead of the trickier fixtures on the horizon. Mauritius on the other hand, have lost 5 of 6 away from home and we expect that trend to continue here.
**Algeria vs Somalia** This is probably the most straightforward of all fixtures in this qualifying round. Anything can happen in football, but Algeria are one of Africa’s form teams and Somalia are bang out of form. We only see this one going one way. Algeria have lost just once in their last 17 games and have zero losses in their last 20 home games. To highlight their recent dominance, they destroyed Cape Verde at home 5-1 in their last game and are imperious in front of their home crowd who act as a genuine 12th player. In comparison, Somalia have failed to win in their last 10 and have just 2 victories from their previous 19 games. To highlight the gulf in quality between the two teams, the home side can boast the likes of Houssem Aoaur, Riyad Mahrez, Said Benrahma and Islam Slimani, in their squad while Somalia has no comparable players in their squad. Since an Algeria win offers very little value, we are going for goals here. Our bet of the day is over 3.5 goals.
**Ivory Coast vs Seychelles** Group F kicks off with 2024 AFCON host Ivory Coast taking on minnows Seychelles. The Ivorians have not been as imperious in recent years as they were during the swashbuckling era of Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure. That will not provide any respite to Seychelles as the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Sebastien Haller and ex-Barcelona man Frank Kessie are currently tasked with taking the nation’s football back to its glory days. Still the Ivorians have won just 1 of their last 5 games and will see this as the perfect opportunity to get back to winning ways. Seychelles have won 1 game in 2 years, a 1-0 victory over Bangledesh, and have lost 8 of their last 10 games. If the hosts drop points here, it would be a huge disappointment to the players and the home fans. Our bet prediction is a heavy Ivory Coast win.
**Don’t forget to visit the Betking blog, to learn how to bet on football and win as well as unlimited access to the best betting tips, best odds, betting offers and features (like [FlexiCUT](https://m.betking.com/blog/features/flexi-cut-launch-how-bet-king-s-new-feature-improves-your-betting-options/)) in Nigeria.** **[Sign up](https://m.betking.com/account/registration) today on the mobile website or [the new android app](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kingmakers.betking) and start winning.**