| Tournament statistics | |
|---|---|
| Top scorer(s) |  William Ouma Kembo Uba Kembo (6 goals) |
| Qualification for championships (CAF) |
|---|
Listed below are the dates and results for the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the African zone (CAF). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification.
A total of 22 CAF teams entered the competition (two withdrew). The African Zone was allocated 1 place (out of 16) in the final tournament.
There would be four rounds of play:
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 3rd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Morocco 
|
2–1 |  Senegal
|
0–0 | 2–1 | |
Algeria 
|
2–5 |  Guinea
|
1–0 | 1–5 | |
Egypt 
|
2–3 |  Tunisia
|
2–1 | 0–2 | |
Sierra Leone 
|
0–3 |  Ivory Coast
|
0–1 | 0–2 | |
| Kenya
|
2–1 |  Sudan
|
2–0 | 0–1 | |
Tanzania 
|
1–4 |  Ethiopia
|
1–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 |
Lesotho 
|
1–6 |  Zambia
|
0–0 | 1–6 | |
Nigeria 
|
3–2 |  Congo-Brazzaville
|
2–1 | 1–1 | |
Dahomey 
|
1–10 |  Ghana
|
0–5 | 1–5 | |
Togo 
|
0–4 | Zaire
|
0–0 | 0–4 | |
Mauritius 
|
w/o |  Madagascar
|
— | — | |
Cameroon 
|
w/o |  Gabon
|
— | — |
Morocco won 2–1 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
| Guinea | 5 – 1 | Algeria |
|---|---|---|
Camara  28'Petit Sory 36'Soumah 54' (pen.)Souleymane 78'Samuel 82' |
Gamouh 62' |
Guinea won 5–2 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
Tunisia won 3–2 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
| Sierra Leone | 0 – 1 | Ivory Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Ouattara 32' |
| Ivory Coast | 2 – 0 | Sierra Leone |
|---|---|---|
| Kouamé 42' Ouattara 72' |
Ivory Coast won 3–0 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
Kenya won 2–1 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
| Tanzania | 1 – 1 | Ethiopia |
|---|---|---|
| Mashoto 58' |
Gebremedhin 30' |
The aggregate score was tied 1–1, and a play-off was played to decide who would advance to the Second Round.
Ethiopia advanced to the Second Round, via the play-off.
Zambia won 6–1 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
| Nigeria | 2 – 1 | Congo-Brazzaville |
|---|---|---|
| Olayombo 66' Mambo 77' |
M'Bono 2' |
| Congo-Brazzaville | 1 – 1 | Nigeria |
|---|---|---|
| Minga 88' |
Oyarekhua 28' |
Nigeria won 3–2 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
Ghana won 10–1 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
Zaire won 4–0 on agg. and advanced to the Second Round.
| Mauritius | w/o | Madagascar |
|---|---|---|
| Withdrew |
Madagascar withdrew, so Mauritius advanced to the Second Round automatically.
Gabon withdrew, so Cameroon advanced to the Second Round automatically.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 3rd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guinea
|
1–3 | Morocco
|
1–1 | 0–2 | |
| Tunisia
|
2–3 | Ivory Coast
|
1–1 | 1–2 | |
| Mauritius
|
3–5 | Kenya
|
1–3 | 2–2 | |
| Ethiopia
|
2–4 | Zambia
|
0–0 | 2–4 | |
| Nigeria
|
0–2 | Ghana
|
0–2 | 0–0 | |
| Cameroon
|
1–3 | Zaire
|
0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Guinea | 1 – 1 | Morocco |
|---|---|---|
| Souleymane 38' |
Choukri 22' |
Morocco won 3–1 on agg. and advanced to the Third Round.
| Tunisia | 1 – 1 | Ivory Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Habita 48' (pen.) |
Kouamé 17' |
| Ivory Coast | 2 – 1 | Tunisia |
|---|---|---|
| N'Guessan 44', 85' (pen.) |
Adhouma 15' |
Ivory Coast won 3–2 on agg. and advanced to the Third Round.
Kenya won 5–3 on agg. and advanced to the Third Round.
| Zambia | 4 – 2 | Ethiopia |
|---|---|---|
| Mugala 47' Simutowe 62' (pen.)Simwala 71'Mapulanga 83' |
Ingdawerk 43' Teka 79' (pen.) |
Zambia won 4–2 on agg. and advanced to the Third Round.
Ghana won 2–0 on agg. and advanced to the Third Round.
The aggregate score was tied 1–1, and a play-off was played to decide who would advance to the Third Round.
Zaire advanced to the Third Round.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ivory Coast
|
2–5 | Morocco
|
1–1 | 1–4 |
| Zambia
|
4–2 | Kenya
|
2–0 | 2–2 |
| Ghana
|
2–4 | Zaire
|
1–0 | 1–4 |
| Ivory Coast | 1 – 1 | Morocco |
|---|---|---|
| Kobinam 75' |
Acila 30' |
Morocco won 5–2 on agg. and advanced to the Final Round.
Zambia won 4–2 on agg. and advanced to the Final Round.
Zaire won 4–2 on agg. and advanced to the Final Round.
| Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zaire
|
8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 |
| 2 | Zambia
|
2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 6 | −1 |
| 3 | Morocco
|
2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 9 | −7 |
Zaire qualified.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zaire |
Final Round winners | 9 December 1973 | 0 (debut) |
Kakoko Etepé Jean-Kalala N'Tumba Tariku Ingdawerk Moustapha Choukri Freddie Mwila Moses Simwala Brighton Sinyangwe Noël Kouamé Bernard N'Guessan Mama Ouattara Abwcari Gariba Osei Kofi Ibrahim Sunday Chérif Souleymane Daniel Jean Robert Imbert Yakubu Mambo Kenneth Olayombo
Ezzedine Chakroun Mohieddine Habita Bernard Chanda Godfrey Chitalu Joseph Mapulanga Rabah Gamouh Mokhtar Kalem Paul-Gaston Ndongo Jean-Michel M'Bono Noël Minga Kouman Kobinam Laurent Pokou Damien Kamilou Sayed Abdelrazak Ali Khalil Tekeste Gebremedhin Kassahun Teka Seyoum Tesfaye Akuetteh Armah Joseph Ghartey Clifford Odame Joseph Sam Maxime Camara Smith Samuel Petit Sory Soriba Soumah Daniel Anyanzwa Peter Ouma John Shore Ramoseli Thietsi Anwar Jackaria Hassan Amcharrat Chérif Fetoui Maouhoub Ghazouani Mohamed Maghfour Sunday Oyarekhua Louis Gomis Diop Izzeldin Osman Nassoro Mashoto Abdesselam Adhouma Mbungu Ekofa Mavuba Mafuila Mayanga Maku Kamunda Tshinabu Obby Kapita Simon Kaushi Burton Mugala Boniface Simutowe