The race for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, has officially begun, with 48 countries battling for 21 available places at the tournament in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda
The three East African countries will host the AFCON 2027 edition and have already secured automatic qualification, leaving the remaining nations to fight for the 21 spots still available
The qualification format also means that not every group will produce two qualifiers, making the race particularly significant for teams drawn alongside the three hosts
Here is everything to know about the AFCON 2027 qualifying process
A total of 48 nations have been drawn into 12 groups of four teams
Each team will play six matches — home and away against the other three countries in its group
At the end of the qualifying campaign, 21 teams will join the three hosts to complete the 24-team AFCON 2027 lineup
As the three host nations, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have automatic places at AFCON 2027
Their participation does not depend on their performance in the qualifying groups
However, they will still compete in the qualifying campaign, creating a special situation in the three groups containing the hosts
In the nine groups without a host nation, two teams will qualify
That produces 18 qualifiers
The remaining three places will come from the groups containing the host nations
This is where the qualification race becomes different
The three host nations are spread across three groups:
Because Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are already qualified as hosts, only one additional team can qualify from each of those groups
That gives the remaining three places needed to reach 21 qualifiers
Nigeria have been drawn in Group L alongside Madagascar, Tanzania and Guinea-Bissau
Tanzania are already qualified as one of the hosts
As a result, Nigeria do not need to finish in a conventional top-two position to qualify
Instead, the Super Eagles must finish above Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau to take the group’s single available qualification place
This makes every point in Nigeria’s six matches potentially crucial
The three hosts cannot be eliminated from AFCON 2027 because they already have guaranteed places
However, the other teams in their groups are effectively competing for one qualification ticket
For example, in Group L, Nigeria, Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau are competing for the one available place alongside already-qualified Tanzania
The same principle applies to South Africa, Guinea and Eritrea in Group D, and Tunisia, Libya and Botswana in Group H
The qualification process is more straightforward in the other groups
The top two teams after the six group matches will qualify for AFCON 2027
There is therefore little room for error, with teams needing to accumulate enough points to finish inside the top two
Morocco, Gabon, Niger, Lesotho
Egypt, Angola, Malawi, South Sudan
Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, The Gambia, Somalia
South Africa, Guinea, Kenya, Eritrea
DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe
Burkina Faso, Benin, Mauritania, Central African Republic
Cameroon, Comoros, Namibia, Congo
Tunisia, Uganda, Libya, Botswana
Algeria, Zambia, Togo, Burundi
Senegal, Mozambique, Sudan, Ethiopia
Mali, Cape Verde, Rwanda, Liberia
Nigeria, Madagascar, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau
The qualifying campaign is scheduled across three international windows
The first two matchdays are being played in September and October 2026, followed by further fixtures in November 2026 and the final two matchdays in March 2027
By the end of Matchday 6, all 21 remaining AFCON places will have been decided
The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations will be staged in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from 19 June to 17 July, 2027
The tournament will feature 24 teams, consisting of the three automatic qualifiers and the 21 countries that emerge from the qualifying campaign
The competition will bring together the continent’s leading national teams for the first AFCON edition to be jointly hosted by the three East African countries