Benni McCarthy Set for Bafana Bafana Clash as Harambee Stars Learn AFCON 2027 Qualifiers Opponents

Kenya’s Harambee Stars have been drawn into Group D of the AFCON 2027 qualifiers following a draw held at the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association on Tuesday, May 19.

Harambee Stars will face Guinea, Eritrea, and South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in what promises to be a competitive group.

Elsewhere, Tanzania are placed in Group L alongside Madagascar, Guinea-Bissau, and Nigeria, while the Uganda Cranes, who famously finished second at the 1978 AFCON, will take on Libya, Tunisia, and Botswana.

Despite their involvement in the qualifiers, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are already guaranteed automatic places at the AFCON 2027 finals as co-hosts. However, they will still compete in the qualifying campaign to maintain competitive balance and preparation.

Under the qualification format, only one additional team will progress from any group that includes one of the three host nations, while in the remaining groups, the top two teams will qualify for the finals.

The qualifiers will begin with Matchdays 1 and 2 during the FIFA international window from 21 September to 6 October 2026, followed by Matchdays 3 and 4 between 9 and 17 November 2026.

The final two rounds of matches are scheduled for 22 to 30 March 2027, when the full list of AFCON 2027 finalists will be confirmed.

Harambee Stars have qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) six times, in 1972, 1988, 1990, 1992, 2004, and 2019, but have yet to progress beyond the group stage.

Tanzania, meanwhile, reached the Round of 16 at the 2025 AFCON in Morocco and will be aiming to go even further in the next edition, buoyed by strong home support as co-hosts.

For Uganda, their most recent AFCON campaign ended at the group stage after finishing bottom of Group C with just one point from three matches.

Group A: Morocco, Gabon, Niger, Lesotho

Group B: Egypt, Angola, Malawi, South Sudan

Group C: Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Gambia, Somalia

Group D: South Africa, Guinea, Kenya, Eritrea

Group E: DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe

Group F: Burkina Faso, Benin, Mauritania, Central African Republic

Group G: Cameroon, Comoros, Namibia, Congo

Group H: Tunisia, Uganda, Libya, Botswana

Group I: Algeria, Zambia, Togo, Burundi

Group J: Senegal, Mozambique, Sudan, Ethiopia

Group K: Mali, Cape Verde, Rwanda, Liberia

Group L: Nigeria, Madagascar, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau