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2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

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The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches are being organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, the 36th edition of the international men's football championship of Africa. The qualification began with the preliminary round, which ran from 25 to 31 March 2026, and concludes with the group stage, which is being played in September, October and November 2026, and March 2027 for the final rounds. A total of 24 teams will qualify to play in the final tournament, including automatically qualified co-hosts Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Dates25 March 2026 – 30 March 2027
Teams54 (from 1 confederation)
Matchesplayed59
Goals scored148 (2.51 per match)
Quick facts Tournament details, Dates ...
2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
Tournament details
Dates25 March 2026 – 30 March 2027
Teams54 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played59
Goals scored148 (2.51 per match)
Top scorer(s)Burundi Jean Claude Girumugisha
Burundi Bienvenue Kanakimana
Eritrea Ali Sulieman
The Gambia Ebrima Colley
Zimbabwe Marshall Munetsi
(3 goals each)
← 2025
2028 →
All statistics correct as of 1 October 2026.
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Entrants

All 54 CAF member associations entered the competition. The seeding was based on the FIFA World Ranking from 19 November 2025.

A total of 48 teams, including the three co-hosts, are competing in the qualifying group stage. Teams ranked 1st to 42nd received a bye to that stage, while the teams ranked 43rd to 54th participated in the preliminary round.

Eritrea and Seychelles made their returns to the qualifying stage after being excluded in the previous edition, despite the former being unranked by FIFA at the time of seeding due to a lack of recent matches.[1]

More information Bye to group stage, Participating in preliminary round ...
From the November 2025 FIFA World Rankings[2]
Bye to group stage Participating in preliminary round
  1.  Morocco (11)
  2.  Senegal (19)
  3.  Egypt (34)
  4.  Algeria (35)
  5.  Nigeria (38)
  6.  Tunisia (40)
  7.  Ivory Coast (42)
  8.  Mali (54)
  9.  DR Congo (56)
  10.  Cameroon (57)
  11.  South Africa (61)
  12.  Burkina Faso (62)
  13.  Cape Verde (68)
  14.  Ghana (72)
  15.  Gabon (78)
  16.  Guinea (81)
  17.  Uganda (85; co-hosts)
  18.  Angola (89)
  19.  Zambia (90)
  20.  Benin (92)
  21.  Equatorial Guinea (97)
  22.  Mozambique (102)
  23.  Madagascar (105)
  24.  Comoros (108)
  25.  Niger (109)
  26.  Libya (111)
  27.  Tanzania (112; co-hosts)
  28.  Kenya (113; co-hosts)
  29.  Mauritania (114)
  30.  Gambia (117)
  31.  Sudan (118)
  32.  Namibia (119)
  33.  Sierra Leone (121)
  34.  Togo (124)
  35.  Malawi (126)
  36.  Zimbabwe (129)
  37.  Rwanda (131)
  38.  Guinea-Bissau (133)
  39.  Congo (134)
  40.  Botswana (138)
  41.  Central African Republic (139)
  42.  Liberia (141)
  1.  Lesotho (144)
  2.  Burundi (145)
  3.  Ethiopia (147)
  4.  Eswatini (159)
  5.  South Sudan (168)
  6.  Mauritius (176)
  7.  Chad (177)
  8.  São Tomé and Príncipe (190)
  9.  Djibouti (196)
  10.  Somalia (200)
  11.  Seychelles (203)
  12.  Eritrea (unranked)
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Schedule

The schedule of the qualifying tournament is as follows.

More information Round, Matchday ...
Round Matchday Dates Matches
Preliminary round First leg 25–27 March 2026 Team 1 vs. Team 2
Second leg 29–31 March 2026 Team 2 vs. Team 1
Group stage Matchday 1 24 September – 6 October 2026 Team 1 vs. Team 2
Team 3 vs. Team 4
Matchday 2 Team 2 vs. Team 3
Team 4 vs. Team 1
Matchday 3 9 November – 17 November 2026 Team 1 vs. Team 3
Team 2 vs. Team 4
Matchday 4 Team 3 vs. Team 1
Team 4 vs. Team 2
Matchday 5 22–30 March 2027 Team 2 vs. Team 1
Team 4 vs. Team 3
Matchday 6 Team 3 vs. Team 2
Team 1 vs. Team 4
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Preliminary round

Main article: 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification preliminary round

The twelve teams were split into six ties which were played in home-and-away two-legged format.[3][4]

More information Team 1, Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score ...
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Djibouti 1–4 South Sudan0–41–0
Chad 0–8 Burundi0–40–4
Somalia 0–0 (4–2 p) Mauritius0–00–0
Seychelles 1–2 Lesotho0–01–2
Eritrea 4–1 Eswatini2–02–1
São Tomé and Príncipe 0–4 Ethiopia0–30–1
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Group stage

Draw

The group stage draw took place on 19 May 2026 at 15:00 (UTC+3) in Cairo, Egypt. The 48 national teams involved were divided into twelve groups of four each, which consisted of the 42 teams that entered directly, in addition to the six winners of the preliminary round, and were seeded into four pots of twelve each based on the April 2026 FIFA World Rankings (shown in parentheses).[5][6]

Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament.

More information Pot 1, Pot 2 ...
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

 Morocco (8)
 Senegal (14)
 Nigeria (26)
 Algeria (28)
 Egypt (29)
 Ivory Coast (34)
 Tunisia (44)
 Cameroon (45)
 DR Congo (46)
 Mali (52)
 South Africa (60)
 Burkina Faso (62)

 Cape Verde (69)
 Ghana (74)
 Guinea (80)
 Gabon (87)
 Uganda (88; co-hosts)
 Angola (89)
 Benin (90)
 Zambia (92)
 Mozambique (101)
 Madagascar (104)
 Equatorial Guinea (105)
 Comoros (109)

 Kenya (111; co-hosts)
 Libya (112)
 Tanzania (113; co-hosts)
 Niger (114)
 Mauritania (115)
 Gambia (116)
 Sudan (117)
 Sierra Leone (119)
 Namibia (120)
 Togo (121)
 Malawi (127)
 Rwanda (128)

 Zimbabwe (130)
 Guinea-Bissau (132)
 Congo (133)
 Central African Republic (139)
 Liberia (140)
 Burundi (142)
 Ethiopia (144)
 Lesotho (145)
 Botswana (146)
 South Sudan (170)
 Eritrea (184)
 Somalia (198)

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Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order (Regulations Article 14):

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  5. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above will be reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
  6. Goal difference in all group matches;
  7. Goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Away goals scored in all group matches;
  9. Drawing of lots

Group A

Main article: 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group A
More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Morocco Gabon Niger Lesotho
1  Morocco 2 2 0 0 4 0 +4 6 Final tournament — 2–0 11 Nov 28 Mar
2  Gabon 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3 24 Mar — 2–0 11 Nov
3  Niger 2 1 0 1 2 3 −1 3 15 Nov 28 Mar — 2–1
4  Lesotho 2 0 0 2 1 4 −3 0 0–2 15 Nov 24 Mar —
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Updated to match(es) played on 29 September 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group B

Main article: 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group B
More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Egypt Malawi Angola South Sudan
1  Egypt 2 1 1 0 5 0 +5 4 Final tournament — 11 Nov 0–0 28 Mar
2  Malawi 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 3 15 Nov — 28 Mar 2–1
3  Angola 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 24 Mar 6 Oct — 11 Nov
4  South Sudan 2 0 0 2 1 7 −6 0 0–5 24 Mar 15 Nov —
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Updated to match(es) played on 29 September 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group C

Main article: 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group C
More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Ivory Coast The Gambia Somalia Ghana
1  Ivory Coast 2 2 0 0 4 0 +4 6 Final tournament — 11 Nov 28 Mar 2–0
2  Gambia 2 2 0 0 6 3 +3 6 15 Nov — 2–1 28 Mar
3  Somalia 2 0 0 2 1 4 −3 0 0–2 24 Mar — 15 Nov
4  Ghana 2 0 0 2 2 6 −4 0 24 Mar 2–4 11 Nov —
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Updated to match(es) played on 29 September 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group D

Main article: 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group D
More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification South Africa Guinea Kenya Eritrea
1  South Africa 2 2 0 0 7 1 +6 6 Final tournament — 2–1 11 Nov 28 Mar
2  Guinea 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3 24 Mar — 1–0 11 Nov
3  Kenya[a] (Q) 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1 1 Final tournament 15 Nov 28 Mar — 1–1
4  Eritrea 2 0 1 1 1 6 −5 1 0–5 15 Nov 24 Mar —
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Updated to match(es) played on 1 October 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated
Notes:
  1. [a]
    Kenya has already qualified for the final tournament as a host nation.

Group E

Main article: 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group E
More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Democratic Republic of the Congo Zimbabwe Equatorial Guinea Sierra Leone
1  DR Congo 2 2 0 0 4 1 +3 6 Final tournament — 28 Mar 2–0 11 Nov
2  Zimbabwe 2 1 0 1 4 4 0 3 1–2 — 15 Nov 24 Mar
3  Equatorial Guinea 2 1 0 1 1 2 −1 3 24 Mar 24 Mar — 1–0
4  Sierra Leone 2 0 0 2 2 4 −2 0 15 Nov 2–3 28 Mar —
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Updated to match(es) played on 28 September 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group F

Main article: 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group F
More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Benin Burkina Faso Mauritania Central African Republic
1  Benin 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1 4 Final tournament — 24 Mar 2–1 11 Nov
2  Burkina Faso 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 4 1–1 — 11 Nov 28 Mar
3  Mauritania 2 1 0 1 4 3 +1 3 28 Mar 15 Nov — 3–1
4  Central African Republic 2 0 0 2 1 4 −3 0 15 Nov 0–1 24 Mar —
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Updated to match(es) played on 28 September 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group G

Main article: 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group G
More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Cameroon Comoros Namibia Republic of the Congo
1  Cameroon 2 1 1 0 4 2 +2 4 Final tournament — 3–1 11 Nov 28 Mar
2  Comoros 2 1 0 1 2 3 −1 3 24 Mar — 1–0 11 Nov
3  Namibia 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 3 15 Nov 28 Mar — 1–0
4  Congo 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1 1 1–1 15 Nov 24 Mar —
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Updated to match(es) played on 29 September 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group H

Main article: 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group H
More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Uganda Botswana Tunisia Libya
1  Uganda[a] (Q) 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 4 Final tournament — 11 Nov 24 Mar 1–0
2  Botswana 2 0 2 0 4 4 0 2 15 Nov — 28 Mar 24 Mar
3  Tunisia 2 0 2 0 3 3 0 2 1–1 2–2 — 11 Nov
4  Libya 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 1 28 Mar 2–2 15 Nov —
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Updated to match(es) played on 29 September 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated
Notes:
  1. [a]
    Uganda has already qualified for the final tournament as a host nation.

Group I

Main article: 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group I
More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Algeria Zambia Togo Burundi
1  Algeria 2 1 1 0 5 3 +2 4 Final tournament — 3–1 11 Nov 28 Mar
2  Zambia 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 3 24 Mar — 2–0 11 Nov
3  Togo 2 1 0 1 1 2 −1 3 15 Nov 28 Mar — 1–0
4  Burundi 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 1 2–2 15 Nov 24 Mar —
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Updated to match(es) played on 29 September 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group J

Main article: 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group J
More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Mozambique Senegal Sudan Ethiopia
1  Mozambique 2 1 1 0 5 2 +3 4 Final tournament — 1–1 4–1 11 Nov
2  Senegal 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 4 24 Mar — 11 Nov 28 Mar
3  Sudan 2 1 0 1 2 4 −2 3 28 Mar 15 Nov — 1–0
4  Ethiopia 2 0 0 2 0 2 −2 0 15 Nov 0–1 24 Mar —
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Updated to match(es) played on 29 September 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group K

Main article: 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group K
More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Rwanda Mali Cape Verde Liberia
1  Rwanda 2 2 0 0 5 2 +3 6 Final tournament — 15 Nov 28 Mar 3–1
2  Mali 2 2 0 0 4 1 +3 6 11 Nov — 3–1 28 Mar
3  Cape Verde 2 0 0 2 2 5 −3 0 1–2 24 Mar — 11 Nov
4  Liberia 2 0 0 2 1 4 −3 0 24 Mar 0–1 15 Nov —
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Updated to match(es) played on 29 September 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group L

Main article: 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group L
More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Guinea-Bissau Nigeria Madagascar Tanzania
1  Guinea-Bissau 2 2 0 0 5 0 +5 6 Final tournament — 3–0 15 Nov 24 Mar
2  Nigeria 2 1 0 1 2 4 −2 3 28 Mar — 2–1 11 Nov
3  Madagascar 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 1 11 Nov 24 Mar — 1–1
4  Tanzania[a] (Q) 2 0 1 1 1 3 −2 1 Final tournament 0–2 15 Nov 28 Mar —
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Updated to match(es) played on 29 September 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated
Notes:
  1. [a]
    Tanzania has already qualified for the final tournament as a host nation.

Goalscorers

There have been 148 goals scored in 59 matches, for an average of 2.51 goals per match (as of 1 October 2026).

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Qualified teams

The following teams have qualified for the final tournament.

More information Team, Qualified as ...
Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in Africa Cup of Nations1
 KenyaHosts27 September 20236 (1972, 1988, 1990, 1992, 2004, 2019)
 Tanzania4 (1980, 2019, 2023, 2025)
 Uganda8 (1962, 1968, 1974, 1976, 1978, 2017, 2019, 2025)
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1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italics indicates hosts for that year.

References

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