The road to the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations PAMOJA 2027 officially gets underway this week, with Africa’s leading national teams beginning their qualification campaigns for next year’s continental showpiece.
The first two matchdays of the qualifying campaign will be played between 24 September and 6 October 2026, with 48 nations competing across 12 groups for places at the 2027 AFCON finals in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
Matchday 1 begins on Thursday, 24 September, before the second round of fixtures brings the opening international window to a close in early October.
The tournament finals are scheduled to take place from 19 June to 17 July 2027, with East Africa preparing to host the continent’s premier national-team competition.
Big African names headline opening round
The opening matchday features several fixtures that immediately capture attention, including a heavyweight encounter between Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana in Bouaké.
The two West African giants will meet at 19:00 GMT, with both nations beginning a new chapter in their respective international campaigns.
Côte d’Ivoire head into the match under returning coach Hervé Renard, while Ghana have brought back several players who were absent during the 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign.
Elsewhere on Thursday, DR Congo will face Equatorial Guinea, while Sierra Leone meet Zimbabwe.
Cameroon will begin their Group G campaign against Comoros, with Namibia taking on Congo in the other match in the group.
In Group H, Libya host Botswana while co-hosts Uganda travel to Tunisia.
Mauritania and the Central African Republic will complete Thursday’s programme.
Morocco, Egypt and Nigeria begin their campaigns
Friday brings another busy schedule, with several of Africa’s established football nations entering the competition.
Morocco will welcome Gabon in Rabat in a Group A encounter. The Atlas Lions begin a new phase under coach Mohamed Ouahbi, who has included several young players in his first squad.
Gabon also enter a new era following the international retirement of former captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
In Group B, Egypt will host Angola, while Malawi take on South Sudan.
Other notable Friday fixtures include Burkina Faso against Benin, Algeria versus Zambia, Senegal against Mozambique and Mali against Cape Verde.
Nigeria will begin their Group L campaign against Madagascar. The Super Eagles will be without striker Victor Osimhen for the opening two qualifiers after the forward was ruled out through injury.
Co-hosts Tanzania will meet Guinea-Bissau in the other Group L fixture.
Mosimane’s Bafana begin qualifying campaign
For South African football supporters, one of the most anticipated matches of the opening round will take place on Saturday, 26 September, when Bafana Bafana welcome Guinea.
The fixture will mark Pitso Mosimane’s first competitive match since returning as South Africa head coach for a third spell.
South Africa will be looking to make a positive start in Group D against a Guinea side expected to pose a significant attacking threat.
Guinea will look towards Serhou Guirassy for goals, while coach Paulo Duarte has also recalled Ilaix Moriba to his squad.
The other Group D match sees co-hosts Kenya face Eritrea.
Because Kenya are already guaranteed a place at the finals as hosts, the qualification situation in Group D differs from the other groups. Only the highest-ranked team outside the automatically qualified host nation will secure the additional qualification place.
The same principle applies to Groups H and L because Uganda and Tanzania are also among the three host nations.
How qualification will work
The 48 participating teams have been divided into 12 groups of four, with six matchdays scheduled during the qualifying campaign.
In the standard groups, the top two teams will qualify for the AFCON finals.
Groups D, H and L have a different qualification arrangement because they contain Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, who have already secured their places as co-hosts.
Following the opening two matchdays, the qualifiers will resume between 9 and 17 November 2026.
The final two rounds are scheduled for 22 to 30 March 2027.
East Africa prepares for a historic AFCON
The 2027 tournament will have added significance for the region as Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda become the first three nations to jointly host the Africa Cup of Nations.
The word PAMOJA, which means “Together” in Swahili, reflects the theme surrounding the joint hosting project and the cooperation between the three East African countries.
With the qualification campaign now ready to begin, the race for places at the 2027 finals officially moves into its first competitive phase.
Our Soccer Updates will continue to bring you the latest African football news, results, fixtures and developments on the road to AFCON 2027.
