2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 23 March 2026 – 16 November 2026 |
| Teams | 52 (from 1 confederation) |
← 2025 2028 → | |
| Qualification for championships (CAF) |
|---|
Qualification for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations will begin on 23 March 2026. A total of 24 teams will qualify to play in the final tournament, including automatically qualified hosts Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Entrants
All CAF member associations are eligible to enter the competition. The seeding was based on the FIFA World Ranking from 19 November 2025.
The qualifiers group stage draw will be held in December 2025 in Rabat, Morocco.
A total of 13 groups, each comprising either three or four teams depending on the number of participating associations, will contest the group stage. The 13 group winners and the three best runners-up will qualify directly for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, joining the three host nations Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The remaining runners-up will advance to a two-legged play-off round to determine the final qualified teams. For scheduling reasons DR Congo will be drawn into a group of three teams due to their participation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (inter-confederation play-offs).
| Teams entering the group stage |
|---|
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Schedule
The schedule of the qualifying tournament is as follows.
| Round | Matchday | Dates | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 23–31 March 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 | 21 September – 6 October 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 | Team 2 vs. Team 1, Team 4 vs. Team 3 | ||
| Matchday 6 | Team 3 vs. Team 2, Team 1 vs. Team 4 | ||
| Play-off Round | First leg | 9–17 November 2026 | Team 1 vs. Team 2 |
| Second leg | Team 2 vs. Team 1 |
References
- ^ "FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". inside.fifa.com. Retrieved 2025-11-23.