AFCON 2027 Qualifying Draw: Harambee Stars Possible Opponents, Time and Where to Watch

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) will conduct the draw for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on Tuesday and all the 48 teams are already aware which pots they will be in.

Kenya, just like co-hosts Tanzania and Uganda, will also take part in the qualifiers, even though they have already qualified by virtue of being the host nations.

However, the qualifiers will still be an intense six-match run that will take place from September 2026 to March 2027 ahead of the tournament that will be played between June 19 and July 17, 2027.

The draw for the 2027 AFCON qualifiers will be conducted at the CAF headquarters in Cairo on Tuesday May 19, setting the stage for the road to East Africa.

A total of 48 teams, including the three co-hosts, will participate in the qualifiers, nine groups not containing a co-host seeing the top two seal a ticket to AFCON 2027. In the three groups in which the co-hosts will compete, the highest finisher that is not one of Kenya, Tanzania, or Uganda will qualify.

The teams are categorised in four pots with the highest ranked nations as per the last FIFA Ranking on April 1, occupying Pot 1, with the same procedure to be followed for Pot 2, 3 and 4 to make up the 48 nations.

Pot 1: Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Cameroon, DR Congo, Mali, South Africa and Burkina Faso.

Pot 2: Cape Verde, Ghana, Guinea, Gabon, Uganda, Angola, Benin, Zambia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Equatorial Guinea and Comoros.

Pot 3: Kenya, Libya, Tanzania, Niger, Mauritania, The Gambia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Togo, Malawi and Rwanda.

Pot 4: Zimbabwe, Guinea-Bissau, Congo, Central African Republic, Liberia, Burundi, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Botswana, South Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia.

Being in Pot 3, Kenya will avoid Libya, Tanzania, Niger, Mauritania, Gambia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Togo, Malawi and Rwanda but faces the possibility of taking on an African giant as they must play one team from Pot 1, Pot 2 (excluding Uganda) and Pot 4.

It therefore means a meeting with either Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Cameroon, DR Congo, Mali, South Africa or Burkina Faso, who make Pot 1, is in the offing and they will also take on one of Cape Verde, Ghana, Guinea, Gabon, Angola, Benin, Zambia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Equatorial Guinea or Comoros from Pot 2 with only Uganda the exception as they are co-hosts.

They will then complete their draw with one of the teams from Pot 4 that has; Zimbabwe, Guinea-Bissau, Congo, Central African Republic, Liberia, Burundi, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Botswana, South Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia.

African legends Max-Alain Gradel (Cote d’Ivoire), William Troost-Ekong (Nigeria), Essam El Hadary (Egypt) and Tresor Mputu (DR Congo) will conduct the draw.

The draw will be conducted in Cairo, Egypt from 3pm (Kenyan time) on Tuesday and will be live and free on KBC TV for fans in Kenya. Pay TV channels that will broadcast the draw in Kenya are SuperSport TV and Azam TV while CAF’s official YouTube Channel, CAF TV will also have it.