Nigeria national football team will discover their opponents for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on Tuesday as the Confederation of African Football prepares to conduct the official draw in Cairo, Egypt.
The qualifying draw will take place at the headquarters of the Confederation of African Football ahead of the tournament scheduled to hold from June 19 to July 17, 2027. The competition will be jointly hosted by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda under the title AFCON PAMOJA 2027.
This edition will mark the first time in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations that three countries will co host the tournament.
Nigeria, a three time African champion, previously won the tournament in 1980, 1994, and 2013. The Super Eagles also finished as runners up in the 2023 edition and secured third place in 2025.
According to CAF, 48 countries including the three host nations will participate in the qualification series. The teams will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each, with the top two teams from every group qualifying automatically for the tournament.
However, because the three host countries have already qualified automatically, only one additional team will qualify from each of their respective groups.
CAF announced that the qualification matches will be played during three FIFA international windows between September 2026 and March 2027. The first two rounds of matches are expected to take place between September 21 and October 6, 2026. Matchdays three and four will hold from November 9 to 17, 2026, while the final qualification fixtures are scheduled for March 22 to 30, 2027.
Football analysts believe the tournament presents a major opportunity for East Africa to showcase its sporting culture, infrastructure, and tourism potential to the rest of the continent and the world.
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