The Confederation of African Football (CAF) will hold the draw for the preliminary round of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers on Tuesday, officially kicking off the campaign for the continent’s flagship football tournament.
CAF released the official pots on Monday for the preliminary stage. Pot 1 features Lesotho, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eswatini, South Sudan, and Mauritius, while Pot 2 includes Chad, São Tomé & Príncipe, Djibouti, Somalia, Seychelles, and Eritrea.
Each team from Pot 1 will be paired against a team from Pot 2, with the first leg hosted by the lower-ranked nation. The ties will be played over two legs, and the six winners will progress to the group stage of the AFCON 2027 qualifiers, joining Africa’s top 42-ranked nations in the race for a spot at the tournament.
CAF has not yet announced the host country for the 35th edition of AFCON. Nigeria, as one of Africa’s highest-ranked nations, will bypass the preliminary round and enter directly into the group stage draw.
The Super Eagles are currently participating in the 2025 AFCON in Morocco, having won all five of their matches to reach the semi-finals, where they will face hosts Morocco on Wednesday.
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