The first step towards the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations PAMOJA 2027 will be taken this week as 48 African nations begin their qualification campaigns.
Matchday 1 will be played from Thursday, 24 September to Saturday, 26 September 2026, with 24 matches scheduled across the 12 qualifying groups.
Among the fixtures attracting significant attention are Côte d’Ivoire vs Ghana, Morocco vs Gabon, Egypt vs Angola, Algeria vs Zambia and South Africa vs Guinea.
Below is the complete Matchday 1 fixture schedule.
Thursday, 24 September
Group G
Namibia vs Congo — 13:00 GMT
Group E
DR Congo vs Equatorial Guinea — 16:00 GMT
Group F
Mauritania vs Central African Republic — 16:00 GMT
Group H
Libya vs Botswana — 16:00 GMT
Group C
Côte d’Ivoire vs Ghana — 19:00 GMT
Group E
Sierra Leone vs Zimbabwe — 19:00 GMT
Group G
Cameroon vs Comoros — 19:00 GMT
Group H
Tunisia vs Uganda — 19:00 GMT
Friday, 25 September
Friday brings the busiest day of Matchday 1, with 14 matches scheduled across the qualifying groups.
Group L
Tanzania vs Guinea-Bissau — 13:00 GMT
Group A
Niger vs Lesotho — 15:00 GMT
Group B
Malawi vs South Sudan — 16:00 GMT
Group C
The Gambia vs Somalia — 16:00 GMT
Group I
Togo vs Burundi — 16:00 GMT
Group J
Sudan vs Ethiopia — 16:00 GMT
Group K
Rwanda vs Liberia — 16:00 GMT
Group L
Nigeria vs Madagascar — 16:00 GMT
Evening fixtures
Group A
Morocco vs Gabon — 19:00 GMT
Group B
Egypt vs Angola — 19:00 GMT
Group F
Burkina Faso vs Benin — 19:00 GMT
Group I
Algeria vs Zambia — 19:00 GMT
Group J
Senegal vs Mozambique — 19:00 GMT
Group K
Mali vs Cape Verde — 19:00 GMT
Saturday, 26 September
Matchday 1 concludes on Saturday with the two Group D fixtures.
Group D
Kenya vs Eritrea — 13:00 GMT
Group D
South Africa vs Guinea — 16:00 GMT
The South Africa-Guinea encounter will be closely followed by Bafana Bafana supporters as Pitso Mosimane begins his latest competitive campaign in charge of the national team.
What comes next?
The opening round is followed by Matchday 2, bringing the first qualifying window to a close on 6 October 2026.
The qualifiers will then return in November before the final two matchdays are played in March 2027.
The top two teams in most groups will qualify for the AFCON finals, while Groups D, H and L have special qualification arrangements because Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have already qualified as co-hosts.
The TotalEnergies CAF AFCON PAMOJA 2027 finals will be staged from 19 June to 17 July 2027 across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
All kick-off times listed above are in GMT. South African time is GMT+2.
Follow Our Soccer Updates for Matchday 1 results, Bafana Bafana coverage and the latest developments from the AFCON 2027 qualifying campaign.
