CAF announces the dates of the 2027 African Nations

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the opening and final dates for the historic edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, which will be held in 2027, in 3 countries: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
CAF confirmed in a statement on its official website that the tournament will be held in the summer, noting that the opening match will be held on June 19, 2027, while the final match will be held on July 17 of the same year.
The Confederation of African Football also noted that it will announce the country that will host the opening and final match at a later time, adding that this tournament is expected to attract more than 400 million people in the eastern African continent.
The upcoming tournament will be the first edition to be held in three different countries, and the second to be held in the summer after the Egypt 2019 edition.
It is expected that the Africa Cup of Nations competitions will be held again in the east of the continent for the first time since the 1976 edition in Ethiopia.
CAF also explained in its statement that the draw for the final qualifiers for the tournament will be held on May 19, after the end of the preliminary round competitions.
The 48 teams participating in the final round of qualifiers will be distributed into 12 groups, each containing 4 teams, and the first and second places from each group will qualify for the finals.
CAF said that the six rounds of the qualifiers will be held during three international periods of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), where the first and second rounds will be held from September 21 to October 6, 2026, while the third and fourth rounds will be held from November 9 to 17, 2026.
It was also decided to hold the fifth and sixth rounds from March 22 to 30, 2027.