The 2027 Africa Cup Nations (AFCON) will kick off on Saturday, June 19 2027, with the final holding on Saturday July 17, 2027.
The dates were confirmed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and were recently ratified by the FIFA Council during its meeting in Vancouver, Canada.
The tournament tagged “AFCON PAMOJA 2027” will be co hosted by the trio of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
While the tournament window is now set, CAF noted that the specific venues for the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the final match, will be announced “in due course.”
With the preliminary rounds already concluded, the journey to the final tournament will ramp up with the qualifiers’ draw scheduled for May 19, 2026.
A total of 48 teams, including the three host nations, will be drawn into 12 groups of four. The top two teams from each group will secure a ticket to the biennial showpiece.
The qualification fixtures will be played across three FIFA international windows such as Matchdays 1 & 2: September 21 – October 6, 2026; Matchdays 3 & 4: November 9 – November 17, 2026; and Matchdays 5 & 6: March 22 – March 30, 2027.
The 2027 edition marks a significant shift for African football, as it is the first time the tournament would be hosted by three countries simultaneously, signalling the return of the competition to the East African region for the first time since Ethiopia hosted it in 1976.
