The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced that the draw for the Africa Cup of Nations 2027 qualifiers will take place on May 19, 2026. This edition of AFCON is scheduled from June 19 to July 17, 2027.
Preparations are intensifying in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, the three host countries for this edition. CAF has also unveiled the qualifying schedule, which will run from September 21, 2026, to March 30, 2027. The first two matchdays are scheduled until October 6, 2026, followed by the 3rd and 4th matchdays from November 9 to 17, 2026. The last two matchdays will be played from March 22 to 30, 2027.
Forty-eight teams will participate in these qualifiers, divided into 12 groups. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the final phase, which will bring together 24 nations. It should be noted that the host countries, although automatically qualified, will participate in the qualifiers, which means that in their groups, only the first other country will qualify.
The draw will determine the composition of these groups and officially launch the race to qualify for AFCON 2027. The dates of the FIFA international windows have been taken into account to schedule the qualifying matches. CAF has not yet announced where the opening match and the final will be played.
