AFCON 2027 qualifiers: all 12 groups, fixtures and standings
Qualifying for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations is under way. Forty-eight teams were drawn into 12 groups of four in Cairo on May 19, 2026; six matchdays across three windows decide the 21 teams that join co-hosts Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda at the 24-team finals in June 2027. Matchday 1 was played on September 24–26 and matchday 2 runs until October 6. This page holds every group, every result so far and all 12 group tables, updated after each round.
Updated
The draw: May 19, 2026 in Cairo
CAF held the qualifying draw at its headquarters in Cairo on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. The 48 entrants — including the three hosts — were split into four pots of 12 on the April 2026 FIFA ranking and drawn into 12 groups of four, one team from each pot. Because seeding kept the top-ranked sides apart, the hardest sections are the ones where a strong second seed landed: Group C (Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana) and Group D (South Africa, Guinea and host Kenya).
The three hosts were placed in Groups D (Kenya), H (Uganda) and L (Tanzania). They play their group fixtures as normal, but they are already qualified, so their results do not decide a qualifying place — see the qualification rule below.
All 12 AFCON 2027 qualifying groups
| Group | Team 1 | Team 2 | Team 3 | Team 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Morocco | Gabon | Niger | Lesotho |
| B | Egypt | Angola | Malawi | South Sudan |
| C | Côte d'Ivoire | Ghana | The Gambia | Somalia |
| D | South Africa | Guinea | Kenya (host) | Eritrea |
| E | DR Congo | Equatorial Guinea | Sierra Leone | Zimbabwe |
| F | Burkina Faso | Benin | Mauritania | Central African Republic |
| G | Cameroon | Comoros | Namibia | Congo |
| H | Tunisia | Uganda (host) | Libya | Botswana |
| I | Algeria | Zambia | Togo | Burundi |
| J | Senegal | Mozambique | Sudan | Ethiopia |
| K | Mali | Cape Verde | Rwanda | Liberia |
| L | Nigeria | Madagascar | Tanzania (host) | Guinea-Bissau |
Reigning champions Morocco head Group A, with 2023 winners Côte d'Ivoire in Group C and record seven-time champions Egypt in Group B. Nigeria, runners-up in 2023, share Group L with host Tanzania, so only one of Nigeria, Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau can qualify from that section.
How many teams qualify
Twenty-four teams play the finals. Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda qualify automatically as hosts, leaving 21 places to be decided in the groups:
- In the nine groups without a host (A, B, C, E, F, G, I, J, K), the top two teams qualify — 18 places.
- In the three host groups (D, H, L), one further team qualifies: the best-placed side other than the host — 3 places.
That makes 18 + 3 = 21 qualifiers plus the three hosts. There is no play-off round and no place for best third-placed teams in qualifying; the best-third rule applies only at the finals.
Matchday windows
| Round | Window | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Matchdays 1–2 | September 24 – October 6, 2026 | First fixtures on September 24 (Côte d'Ivoire v Ghana, Tunisia v Uganda, Libya v Botswana) |
| Matchdays 3–4 | November 9–17, 2026 | Return fixtures of the opening round |
| Matchdays 5–6 | March 22–30, 2027 | Final two rounds; groups settled by March 30 |
CAF's calendar reserves September 21 – October 6 for the first window, but the fixture list it published placed the first matches on Thursday, September 24, 2026. Matchday 2 follows between September 28 and October 6. Kick-off times are set by the home federation and vary from 11:00 to 19:00 GMT. Several nations whose stadiums are not CAF-approved play their home games at neutral venues in Morocco, Ghana, Botswana, Cameroon and South Sudan.
Matchday 1 results (September 24–26, 2026)
All 24 opening fixtures were played across three days: 16 home wins, two away wins and six draws, with 63 goals. Holders Morocco beat Gabon 2–0 in Rabat, Côte d'Ivoire beat Ghana 2–0 in Bouaké in the tie of the round, and Egypt were held 0–0 by Angola in Cairo. The hosts had a mixed start: Uganda earned a 1–1 draw in Tunisia, Kenya were held 1–1 by Eritrea at Nyayo, and Tanzania lost 0–2 to Guinea-Bissau in Zanzibar — a result that leaves Guinea-Bissau, not Nigeria, top of Group L on goal difference.
| Date | Group | Result | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu Sept 24 | C | Côte d'Ivoire 2–0 Ghana | Bouaké |
| Thu Sept 24 | E | DR Congo 2–0 Equatorial Guinea | Kinshasa |
| Thu Sept 24 | E | Sierra Leone 2–3 Zimbabwe | El Jadida, Morocco (neutral) |
| Thu Sept 24 | F | Mauritania 3–1 Central African Republic | Casablanca, Morocco (neutral) |
| Thu Sept 24 | G | Cameroon 3–1 Comoros | Garoua |
| Thu Sept 24 | G | Namibia 1–0 Congo | Gaborone, Botswana (neutral) |
| Thu Sept 24 | H | Tunisia 1–1 Uganda | Radès |
| Thu Sept 24 | H | Libya 2–2 Botswana | Tripoli |
| Fri Sept 25 | A | Morocco 2–0 Gabon | Rabat |
| Fri Sept 25 | A | Niger 2–1 Lesotho | Accra, Ghana (neutral) |
| Fri Sept 25 | B | Egypt 0–0 Angola | Cairo |
| Fri Sept 25 | B | Malawi 2–1 South Sudan | Lilongwe |
| Fri Sept 25 | C | The Gambia 2–1 Somalia | Bakau |
| Fri Sept 25 | F | Burkina Faso 1–1 Benin | Ouagadougou |
| Fri Sept 25 | I | Algeria 3–1 Zambia | Tizi Ouzou |
| Fri Sept 25 | I | Togo 1–0 Burundi | Lomé |
| Fri Sept 25 | J | Mozambique 1–1 Senegal | Maputo |
| Fri Sept 25 | J | Sudan 1–0 Ethiopia | Juba, South Sudan (neutral) |
| Fri Sept 25 | K | Mali 3–1 Cape Verde | Bamako |
| Fri Sept 25 | K | Rwanda 3–1 Liberia | Kigali |
| Fri Sept 25 | L | Nigeria 2–1 Madagascar | Uyo |
| Fri Sept 25 | L | Tanzania 0–2 Guinea-Bissau | Zanzibar |
| Sat Sept 26 | D | Kenya 1–1 Eritrea | Nairobi (Nyayo) |
| Sat Sept 26 | D | South Africa 2–1 Guinea | Soweto |
Matchday 2: results so far and remaining fixtures
Matchday 2 began on Monday, September 28. DR Congo made it two wins from two with a 2–1 victory in Harare, Equatorial Guinea beat Sierra Leone in Yaoundé and Burkina Faso won 1–0 against the Central African Republic in Casablanca. Botswana v Tunisia in Francistown kicked off on the same evening; its result is added once CAF confirms it. Most of the round is played on Tuesday, September 29, including Uganda's first competitive match at the new Hoima City Stadium, against Libya. The window closes with Angola v Malawi on October 6.
| Date | Group | Result | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon Sept 28 | E | Zimbabwe 1–2 DR Congo | Harare |
| Mon Sept 28 | E | Equatorial Guinea 1–0 Sierra Leone | Yaoundé, Cameroon (neutral) |
| Mon Sept 28 | F | Central African Republic 0–1 Burkina Faso | Casablanca, Morocco (neutral) |
| Date | Group | Fixtures | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon Sept 28 | H | Botswana v Tunisia | Francistown |
| Tue Sept 29 | A | Lesotho v Morocco · Gabon v Niger | |
| Tue Sept 29 | B | South Sudan v Egypt | |
| Tue Sept 29 | C | Ghana v The Gambia · Somalia v Côte d'Ivoire | |
| Tue Sept 29 | F | Benin v Mauritania | |
| Tue Sept 29 | G | Comoros v Namibia · Congo v Cameroon | |
| Tue Sept 29 | H | Uganda v Libya | Hoima City Stadium |
| Tue Sept 29 | I | Burundi v Algeria · Zambia v Togo | |
| Tue Sept 29 | J | Mozambique v Sudan · Ethiopia v Senegal | Maputo · Bahir Dar |
| Tue Sept 29 | K | Cape Verde v Rwanda · Liberia v Mali | |
| Tue Sept 29 | L | Madagascar v Tanzania · Guinea-Bissau v Nigeria | |
| Wed Sept 30 | D | Eritrea v South Africa | |
| Thu Oct 1 | D | Guinea v Kenya | Conakry |
| Tue Oct 6 | B | Angola v Malawi |
Standings: all 12 groups
Tables after the matches played by the evening of September 28, 2026 (Groups E and F include their matchday-2 results). Head-to-head record is the first tie-breaker in CAF qualifying, ahead of goal difference. Remember that the hosts in Groups D, H and L are already qualified: only the best-placed of the other three teams in those groups goes through, so Kenya's, Uganda's and Tanzania's points do not affect who qualifies. The tables are refreshed after each window.
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morocco | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 |
| Niger | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| Lesotho | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| Gabon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malawi | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| Egypt | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Angola | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| South Sudan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Côte d'Ivoire | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 |
| The Gambia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| Somalia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| Ghana | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| Kenya (host) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Eritrea | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Guinea | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DR Congo | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 |
| Zimbabwe | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 3 |
| Sierra Leone | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 0 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burkina Faso | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 4 |
| Mauritania | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| Benin | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Central African Republic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 0 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cameroon | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| Namibia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| Congo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| Comoros | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libya | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Botswana | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Tunisia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Uganda (host) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| Togo | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| Zambia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
| Burundi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sudan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| Senegal | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Mozambique | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ethiopia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mali | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| Rwanda | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| Cape Verde | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
| Liberia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guinea-Bissau | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 |
| Nigeria | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| Madagascar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| Tanzania (host) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
AFCON 2027 qualifiers FAQ
What were the AFCON 2027 qualifier results on matchday 1?
Morocco 2–0 Gabon, Côte d'Ivoire 2–0 Ghana, Egypt 0–0 Angola, Algeria 3–1 Zambia, Nigeria 2–1 Madagascar, Mozambique 1–1 Senegal, Cameroon 3–1 Comoros and South Africa 2–1 Guinea were the headline results; the hosts drew (Tunisia 1–1 Uganda, Kenya 1–1 Eritrea) and Tanzania lost 0–2 to Guinea-Bissau. All 24 results are in the table above.
When are the next AFCON 2027 qualifiers?
Matchday 2 runs from September 28 to October 6, 2026, with most fixtures on September 29. Matchdays 3–4 are on November 9–17, 2026 and matchdays 5–6 on March 22–30, 2027.
How many teams qualify from each AFCON 2027 qualifying group?
The top two in each of the nine groups without a host. In the three host groups — D (Kenya), H (Uganda) and L (Tanzania) — the host is already qualified and only the best-placed other team goes through, giving 21 qualifiers plus the three hosts.
Which group are Nigeria in for AFCON 2027 qualifying?
Group L with Madagascar, host Tanzania and Guinea-Bissau. Because Tanzania qualify automatically, only one of the other three teams can qualify from the group. Nigeria beat Madagascar 2–1 on matchday 1 and Guinea-Bissau won 2–0 in Tanzania, so both have three points.
Which groups are Egypt, Ghana, Senegal and Morocco in?
Egypt are in Group B (Angola, Malawi, South Sudan), Ghana in Group C with Côte d'Ivoire (The Gambia, Somalia), Senegal in Group J (Mozambique, Sudan, Ethiopia) and Morocco in Group A (Gabon, Niger, Lesotho).
Do Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania play in the qualifiers?
Yes. All three hosts play their six group matches, but they have already qualified as hosts, so their results do not affect which other team qualifies from their group.
Related
Details marked TBC had not been confirmed by the organiser when this page was last updated (September 28, 2026).