The road to the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations PAMOJA 2027 officially enters the group stage this week as the AFCON 2027 qualifiers begin across Africa.
The 48 participating nations have been divided into 12 groups of four teams. Matchday 1 will be played from September 24 to 26, with several major fixtures scheduled across the continent.
The tournament will be hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from June 19 to July 17, 2027. The three co-hosts are already guaranteed places at the finals, meaning only one additional team will qualify from each of their groups.
AFCON 2027 Qualifiers Groups
The groups for the AFCON 2027 qualifiers are:
- Group A: Morocco, Gabon, Niger, Lesotho
- Group B: Egypt, Angola, Malawi, South Sudan
- Group C: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, The Gambia, Somalia
- Group D: South Africa, Guinea, Kenya, Eritrea
- Group E: DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe
- Group F: Burkina Faso, Benin, Mauritania, Central African Republic
- Group G: Cameroon, Comoros, Namibia, Congo
- Group H: Tunisia, Uganda, Libya, Botswana
- Group I: Algeria, Zambia, Togo, Burundi
- Group J: Senegal, Mozambique, Sudan, Ethiopia
- Group K: Mali, Cape Verde, Rwanda, Liberia
- Group L: Nigeria, Madagascar, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau
Teams will play six matches on a home-and-away basis during the qualifying campaign. In groups without a co-host, the top two teams will qualify for the 2027 AFCON finals.
Major Matchday 1 Fixtures
The opening round features several high-profile clashes.
Côte d’Ivoire will face Ghana in a major West African meeting on September 24. On the same day, Tunisia will host Uganda in Group H, while Cameroon take on Comoros.
Egypt begin their campaign against Angola on September 25, while Morocco host Gabon. Algeria will also be at home against Zambia.
Other notable fixtures include Senegal against Mozambique, Mali against Cape Verde and South Africa against Guinea.
For Uganda, the opening match against Tunisia will be particularly significant. The Cranes are automatically qualified as co-hosts, but their results will still determine their position in Group H and could provide important preparation for the tournament on home soil.
Road to AFCON 2027
Matchdays 1 and 2 will take place between September 24 and October 6, 2026. The qualifying campaign will then resume in November, with Matchdays 3 and 4 scheduled for November 9-17.
The final two rounds will be played between March 22 and 30, 2027. By then, the 24-team lineup for the finals is expected to be completed.
The 2027 tournament will mark the first time that three countries jointly host the Africa Cup of Nations. It will also bring the competition back to East Africa for the first time since Ethiopia hosted the tournament in 1976.
With the opening fixtures now approaching, attention turns to the AFCON 2027 qualifiers as Africa’s national teams begin their journey toward the continent’s biggest football tournament.
