The Confederation of African Football (CAF) held the draw for the qualifiers for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations today (Tuesday), with the tournament scheduled to be held next summer in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. The draw took place at the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association.

Group distribution and participating Arab teams

A total of 48 national teams are participating in the qualifiers, including the three co‑host nations (Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania), and they have been drawn into 12 groups of four teams each.
The groupings are balanced for the Arab teams, with Tunisia drawn against Libya in Group 8, while Egypt appears in Group 2, Kenya in Group 4, and Tanzania in Group 12.

Qualification to the final tournament

The group winner and runner‑up from each group will qualify directly for the final tournament, where 24 teams will compete between 19 June and 17 July 2027.
In Groups 4 (South Africa, Guinea, Kenya, Eritrea), 8 (Tunisia, Uganda, Libya, Botswana), and 12 (Nigeria, Madagascar, Tanzania, Guinea‑Bissau), only the group winner will qualify in addition to the co‑host nation, since each of these groups includes one of the host countries.

Qualifiers match schedule

The qualifiers will be played across three windows, with two matchdays in each window.

  • First window: from 12 September to 6 October 2026.

  • Second window: from 9 to 17 November 2026.

  • Third window: from 22 to 30 March 2027.