The race for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is officially underway, with 21 qualification places still available as 48 nations battle for a spot at Africa’s biggest football showpiece.
The tournament, officially known as the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON PAMOJA 2027, will make history as the first-ever AFCON jointly hosted by three countries — Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
The tournament will begin on June 19, and conclude on July 17, 2027.
The three East African nations are already guaranteed places in the finals as hosts, meaning they will not need to finish in qualifying positions to secure their tickets.
The tournament’s theme, “Pamoja”, is a Swahili word meaning “together” — an appropriate slogan for an edition that brings three nations together to stage the continent’s premier in.
The three hosts — Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have secured automatic qualification, leaving the remaining 21 nations to fight it out through the qualifying campaign.
Kenya will host matches in Nairobi, including fixtures at the Talanta Stadium, Tanzania, as the lead host, will stage matches in Dar es Salaam, with the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium among the key venues while Uganda will welcome AFCON action to Kampala, with the historic Mandela National Stadium set to play a central role.
How the 21 remaining spots will be decided
CAF has retained the traditional 24-team format for the final tournament.
The qualifying campaign features 48 nations divided into 12 groups, from Group A to Group L.
However, the presence of the three automatically qualified hosts means the qualification rules differ depending on the group.
Nine Groups, 18 Spots
In the nine groups without a host nation, the top two teams will automatically qualify for the AFCON finals. That will produce 18 qualifiers.
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will still participate in the qualifiers, despite already having their places secured.
Their respective groups—Groups D, H and L — will therefore have special qualification arrangements.
In each of these groups, only the highest-ranked team among the non-host nations will qualify for the finals.
That means three additional teams will emerge from the host groups, bringing the total number of sporting qualifiers to 21.
Once the qualifying campaign is complete, the three hosts will join the 21 teams that qualify on sporting merit to form the 24-team AFCON 2027 lineup.
With Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda preparing to stage the tournament for the first time in a joint hosting arrangement, the 2027 edition promises to be one of the most historic AFCON tournaments yet.
The road to Pamoja 2027 has begun—and 21 tickets are still up for grabs.
