The Confederation of African Football (CAF) section of the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification saw teams competing for two berths in the final tournament in Italy.

FIFA rejected the entries of Mauritius and Mozambique due to their outstanding debts, leaving 24 nations to contest the qualifying spots.

Lesotho, Rwanda and Togo withdrew after the draw for the first round, which took place on 12 December 1987, but before playing a match.

Eight knockout (two-legged) ties were originally required, involving the sixteen lowest ranked African countries.

Libya played one match in this group before withdrawing from the competition, annulling their results.