CAF Announces AFCON 2027 Dates and Qualifiers Schedule

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has officially announced the dates for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which will be co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The tournament is set to commence on Saturday, June 19, 2027, and will conclude with the final on Saturday, July 17, 2027.

This announcement was made in a statement issued on Saturday, following the approval of the dates by the FIFA Council during a recent meeting in Vancouver, Canada. The tournament will be the first AFCON to be hosted by three countries, providing an opportunity for CAF to expand the competition's reach to approximately 400 million people in the East African region.

The qualification series will begin with a preliminary round, with the draw scheduled for May 19, 2026. A total of 48 teams, including the three co-hosts, will participate in the qualifiers, which will take place across three FIFA international match windows.

This edition will mark the return of the tournament to East Africa for the first time since Ethiopia hosted it in 1976.