Chad has announced a 30-man squad for their upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification fixtures against Ghana and Comoros later this month, hoping to make some impact despite a tough
National team head coach Tahir Zakaria Gardia has selected a blend of experience and youth as Les Sao prepare for two challenging away fixtures in Group I, where they currently sit bottom without a single point from four matches.
The Central African nation will first travel to Accra to face Ghana’s Black Stars at the Accra Sports Stadium on 21 March before meeting Comoros at Stade de Berkane in Morocco on 25 March, with Comoros using the Moroccan venue as their designated home ground.
The current Group I standings show Ghana and Comoros jointly leading with nine points each, followed by Madagascar with seven points. Mali occupies fourth position with five points, while the Central African Republic sits fifth with four points, leaving Chad adrift at the bottom.
Key midfielders Ali Mahamat, Mahamat Abakar, and Masra Yannick are expected to form the core of the team. The attacking responsibilities will fall primarily to Saleh M. Yannick and Issa Hassaballah, while defensive duties will be handled by Djimhotoum Moral, Haroun Abakar and Dingamnodji Armand.
The match against four-time African champions Ghana represents a formidable challenge, though the West African powerhouse has struggled in recent tournaments, potentially giving Chad a glimmer of hope for an upset.
The Comoros fixture may present a more realistic opportunity for Chad to secure their first points of the qualification campaign, though the island nation has shown significant improvement in recent years, highlighted by their shock victory over Ghana at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
These fixtures are being played under FIFA’s expanded World Cup format for 2026, which will see a record nine African teams qualifying directly for the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada, with a tenth team entering an intercontinental playoff.
For Chad, ranked 182nd in the FIFA world rankings, qualification remains a distant dream, but these matches represent an opportunity to build for the future and potentially claim a significant scalp in African football.
