The road to the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) PAMOJA 2027 gets underway this September, with 48 nations competing across 12 groups for places at next year’s continental showpiece.
Matchdays 1 and 2 will be played between 24 September and 6 October 2026, with several heavyweight encounters headlining the opening rounds.
Among the standout Matchday 1 clashes are a mouth-watering Côte d’Ivoire vs Ghana showdown, Morocco vs Gabon, Egypt vs Angola and Algeria vs Zambia.
Other notable fixtures include Cameroon vs Comoros, Senegal vs Mozambique, Mali vs Cape Verde and Nigeria vs Madagascar.
Matchday 2 begins on 28 September, with fixtures including Equatorial Guinea vs Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe vs DR Congo, Botswana vs Tunisia and Central African Republic vs Burkina Faso.
The following day brings another packed schedule, highlighted by Lesotho vs Morocco, Burundi vs Algeria, Mozambique vs Sudan, Ethiopia vs Senegal and Congo vs Cameroon.
Ghana's September fixtures
Ghana has been drawn in Group C of the 2027 AFCON qualifiers alongside Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia and Somalia.
The Black Stars will begin their qualification campaign with a challenging West African derby against Côte d’Ivoire on Thursday, September 24, 2026, at 7:00pm before hosting The Gambia in their second Group C fixture on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, 4:00pm GMT.
Ghana's opening match will be played in Bouaké, with the Black Stars facing the Ivorians at the Stade de la Paix. They will then return home for their second Group C encounter against The Gambia five days later.
How Qualification Works
The 48 teams have been divided into 12 groups of four and will play a six-match home-and-away qualifying campaign.
In groups without a host nation, the top two teams will qualify for the AFCON 2027 finals.
Co-hosts Kenya (Group D), Uganda (Group H) and Tanzania (Group L) have already secured automatic qualification.
In each of their groups, the highest-placed team apart from the host will earn the additional qualifying berth.
Following the opening two matchdays, the qualifiers will resume during the 9–17 November 2026 FIFA international window, before the final two rounds are played from 22–30 March 2027.
The TotalEnergies CAF AFCON PAMOJA 2027 will be staged jointly by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from 19 June to 17 July 2027.
The tournament will bring Africa’s premier international football competition back to East Africa for the first time in more than 50 years, setting the stage for a historic edition of the AFCON.
Key Dates
Matchday 1: 24–26 September 2026
Matchday 2: 28 September–6 October 2026
Matchdays 3 & 4: 9–17 November 2026
Matchdays 5 & 6: 22–30 March 2027
The tournament will begin on June 19, and conclude on July 17, 2027. The journey to Pamoja 2027 begins with 48 nations, 12 groups and some huge early battles—with every result potentially shaping the race for a place at the finals.
