The Confederation of African Football has announced the key dates for the qualifiers of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which will be jointly hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The schedule sets out when the draw will hold and how the qualifying matches will be spread across upcoming FIFA international windows.
CAF confirmed that the draw for the AFCON 2027 qualifiers will take place on 19 May 2026. Forty eight teams will be placed into 12 groups of four, with the top two teams in each group qualifying for the 24 team finals in East Africa.
The qualifiers will be played in three main FIFA windows. Matchdays 1 and 2 are scheduled between 21 September and 6 October 2026, while matchdays 3 and 4 will be played from 9 to 17 November 2026. The final round of group games, matchdays 5 and 6, will hold between 22 and 30 March 2027.
CAF also confirmed the tournament dates for the 2027 AFCON itself. The opening match is set for Saturday, 19 June 2027, and the final will be played on Saturday, 17 July 2027, completing a month long competition in the three East African host nations.
This edition of the tournament, branded AFCON Pamoja 2027, is historic as it will be only the second time Africa’s biggest football event is co hosted by more than one country. CAF says the early release of dates will help participating teams, leagues, broadcasters and fans plan ahead for both the qualification campaign and the finals.
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