| Tournament statistics | |
|---|---|
| Top scorer(s) | |
| Qualification for championships (CAF) | 
|---|
Listed below are the dates and results for the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the African zone (CAF). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification.
A total of 29 CAF teams entered the competition. The African Zone was allocated 2 places (out of 24) in the final tournament.
Format
There would be four rounds of play:
- First Round: 3 teams, Algeria, Cameroon and Ghana, received byes and advanced to the Second Round directly. The remaining 26 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the Second Round.
 - Second Round and Third Round: In each of these rounds, the teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the next round, until there would be 4 teams left.
 - Final Round: The 4 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would qualify.
 
First round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egypt  | 
2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | |
| Kenya  | 
5–4 | 2–1 | 3–3 | |
| Mauritius  | 
0–5 | 0–1 | 0–4 | |
| Zambia  | 
3–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | |
| Tanzania  | 
1–1 (a) | 1–1 | 0–0 | |
| Sierra Leone  | 
0–5 | 0–1 | 0–4 | |
| Benin  | 
0–6 | 0–2 | 0–4 | |
| Ivory Coast  | 
6–3 | 4–0 | 2–3 | |
| Nigeria  | 
4–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | |
| Angola  | 
1–1 (4–3 p) | 1–0 | 0–1 | |
| Madagascar  | 
w/o | — | — | |
| Libya  | 
w/o | — | — | |
| Guinea  | 
w/o | — | — | |
| Algeria  | 
Bye | |||
| Cameroon  | 
Bye | |||
| Ghana  | 
Bye | 
Egypt won 2–1 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
| Ethiopia  | 3–3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Haile  Tesfaye Kebede  | 
Ayoyi  Masiga Onyango  | 
Kenya won 5–4 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
Malawi won 5–0 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
Zambia won 3–1 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
Sudan advanced to the Second Round on away goals after a draw 1–1 on agg.
| Sierra Leone  | 0–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| M. Merry  | 
| Morocco  | 4–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| M. Merry  Dahane Labied  | 
Morocco won 5–0 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
| Benin  | 0–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Jeridi  Gasri  | 
Tunisia won 6–0 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
| Ivory Coast  | 4–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Traoré  N'Dri Ben Salah  | 
| Gambia  | 3–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sowe  Ndour Wadda  | 
Traoré  Tiéhi  | 
Ivory Coast won 6–3 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
Nigeria won 4–0 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
Angola advanced to the Second Round on penalties after a draw won 1–1 on agg.
| Madagascar  | w/o | |
|---|---|---|
| Withdrew | 
Madagascar advanced to the Second Round, Lesotho withdrew.
Libya advanced to the Second Round, Niger withdrew.
Guinea advanced to the Second Round, Togo withdrew.
Second round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zambia  | 
5–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | |
| Morocco  | 
2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | |
| Angola  | 
2–3 | 0–0 | 2–3 | |
| Kenya  | 
1–6 | 0–3 | 1–3 | |
| Egypt  | 
1–1 (3–2 p) | 1–0 | 0–1 | |
| Guinea  | 
1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | |
| Sudan  | 
0–4 | 0–0 | 0–4 | |
| Ivory Coast  | 
0–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 
| Zambia  | 4–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Chabala  Njovu  | 
Kana-Biyik  | 
Zambia won 5–2 on agg. and advanced to the Third Round.
| Morocco  | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| El Haddaoui  Dahane  | 
Morocco won 2–0 on agg. and advanced to the Third Round.
Algeria won 3–2 on agg. and advanced to the Third Round.
Nigeria won 6–1 on agg. and advanced to the Third Round.
| Egypt  | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Suleiman  | 
| Madagascar  | 1–0 (a.e.t.) | |
|---|---|---|
| Rafanodina  | 
||
| Penalties | ||
| 2 – 3 | ||
Egypt advanced to the Third Round on penalties after a draw 1–1 on agg.
| Guinea  | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Diaby  | 
Tunisia won 2–1 on agg. and advanced to the Third Round.
| Libya  | 4–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Brahim  Al-Beshari Al-Maadani Bani  | 
Libya won 4–0 on agg. and advanced to the Third Round.
| Ivory Coast  | 0–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Ghana  | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Nti  Alhassan  | 
Ghana won 2–0 on agg. and advanced to the Third Round.
Third round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria  | 
3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | |
| Ghana  | 
0–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | |
| Nigeria  | 
1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | |
| Egypt  | 
0–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 
Algeria won 3–0 on agg. and advanced to the Final Round.
| Libya  | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Senussi  Al-Qadi  | 
Libya won 2–0 on agg. and advanced to the Final Round.
Tunisia won 2–1 on agg. and advanced to the Final Round.
| Morocco  | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Timoumi  Bouderbala  | 
Morocco won 2–0 on agg. and advanced to the Final Round.
Final round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tunisia  | 
1–7 | 1–4 | 0–3 | |
| Morocco  | 
3–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 
Algeria won 7–1 on agg. and qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
Morocco won 3–1 on agg. and qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
Qualified teams
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1 | 
|---|---|---|---|
| Final Round winners | 18 October 1985 | 1 (1982) | |
| Final Round winners | 18 October 1985 | 1 (1970) | 
- 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
 
Goalscorers
- 5 goals
 
 Bassam Jeridi
- 4 goals
 
- 3 goals
 
- 2 goals
 
 Tedj Bensaoula
 Emad Suleiman
 Mulugeta Kebede
 Frank Sinalo
 Aziz Bouderbala
 Saad Dahane
 Mohamed Timoumi
 Humphrey Edobor
 Rashidi Yekini
 Mohamed Gasri
 Abdelkader Rakbaoui
- 1 goal
 
 Nasser Bouiche
 Mohamed Kaci-Saïd
 Faouzi Mansouri
 Hocine Yahi
 Jesus
 Eduardo Machado
 Ivo Raimundo Traça
 André Kana-Biyik
 Louis-Paul M'Fédé
 Oumar Ben Salah
 Kouassi N'Dri
 Joël Tiéhi
 Alaa Mayhoub
 Gebremedhin Haile
 Dagne Tesfaye
 Cheikh Ndour
 Baboucar Sowe
 Bai Malleh Wadda
 George Alhassan
 Opoku Nti
 Alsény Diaby
 Sammy Ayoyi
 Sammy Onyango
 Sam Tabu
 Ali Al-Beshari
 Abdel Razak Al-Farjani
 Ibrahim Al-Maadani
 Ayad Al-Qadi
 Reda Al-Senussi
 Aboubaker Bani
 Abubaker Ben Brahim
 Herilia Rafanodina
 Ricky Phuka
 Harry Waya
 Mustapha El Haddaoui
 Khalid Labied
 Ademola Adeshina
 Fatai Amoo
 Okey Isima
 Stephen Keshi
 Dahiru Sadi
 Yisa Sofoluwe
 Clement Temile
 Abdou Karim Sèye
 Mazda
 Peter Tino
 Hakim Braham
 Lotfi Hsoumi
 Godfrey Katerega
 Kalusha Bwalya
 Jones Chilengi
 Fanny Hangunyu
 Lucky Msiska
 Aaron Njovu
- 1 own goal
 
 Hamada Sedki (playing against Zimbabwe)
 Bernard Leclézio (playing against Malawi)