CAIRO, Egypt — Nigeria‘s national football team, the Super Eagles, will discover their opponents for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on Tuesday, May 19, 2026.
Okay News reports that the Confederation of African Football will conduct the qualifying draw at the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association in Cairo. The finals are scheduled to take place from June 19 to July 17, 2027.
The tournament, titled AFCON PAMOJA 2027, will be the first edition in the history of the competition to be co-hosted by three countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. A total of 48 teams will participate in the qualifiers, including the three host nations. Nigeria previously won the tournament in 1980, 1994, and 2013, and finished as runners-up in 2023.
The Confederation of African Football stated that the participating countries will be divided into 12 groups of four teams. The top two sides in each group will qualify for the finals, although only one additional team will qualify from the groups containing Kenya, Tanzania, or Uganda because those nations have already secured qualification as hosts.
The qualifiers will be played across three FIFA international windows between September 2026 and March 2027. The Confederation of African Football said, “Matchdays one and two are scheduled for September 21 to October 6, 2026, while the third and fourth rounds of fixtures will take place from November 9 to 17, 2026. The final qualification matches are set for March 22 to 30, 2027.”
The Confederation of African Football further stated that the co-hosts view the tournament as an opportunity to accelerate infrastructure development and international investment. The final qualifying matches will conclude on March 30, 2027.
