JUBA, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan will host the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday in Group B of African qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The two teams previously played on March 21, in DR Congo's capital Kinshasa, with South Sudan losing 1-0.

South Sudan head coach Nicholas Dupuis regretted the narrow loss in Kinshasa, and promised that his team will put up a spirited fight on Friday at the Juba National Stadium in South Sudan's capital.

"It is a very important game for our team because for us DR Congo is one of the six best teams in Africa, so we are very proud to play against such professional players," Dupuis told journalists in Juba on Thursday.

"We have a young team full of local players but they have a very good spirit and during training, it is a pleasure to always be with them. We have very good players and we are going to fight," he added.

DR Congo tops Group B with 13 points from six games, followed by Senegal and Sudan tied on 12 points, with South Sudan ranking fifth of six teams with three points.

Dupuis said his team had prepared well, and added that he was optimistic of getting a good result against DR Congo, whose squad is largely made up of Europe-based players.

DR Congo head coach Sebastien Desabre said a win against South Sudan would boost their World Cup qualification chances.

"It is an important game for us, because we are on the way to qualification but we are taking it game by game. We are focused on this game for qualification," Desabre said.

The Frenchman urged his players to focus on the remaining four games in order to book their ticket to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

"We are not focused on another team. We know that if we win [the remaining] four games we will go to the World Cup," Desabre said.

Togo and Mauritania are the other two teams in the six-team Group B.

The group winner will directly qualify for the World Cup, and the second-placed team could potentially compete in the second round to advance to the inter-confederation playoff. ■