The group stage of qualifying for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations is underway, with Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, DR Congo, Zimbabwe, Mauritania and Namibia among the teams making winning starts on Thursday.
The opening matches began a six-round qualifying campaign involving 48 teams across 12 groups, with the tournament finals scheduled for Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from 19 June to 17 July 2027.
Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon open with wins
Côte d’Ivoire defeated Ghana 2-0 in Bouaké in one of the highest-profile fixtures of the opening night. The match marked the start of a new cycle for the Elephants under returning coach Hervé Renard.
Cameroon also collected three points with a 3-1 victory over Comoros. In the same evening programme, Zimbabwe produced one of the opening round’s most dramatic results, recovering from two goals down to beat Sierra Leone 3-2.
Uganda, already assured of a place at the finals as a co-host, earned a 1-1 draw away to Tunisia. CAF’s match roundup confirmed the four results.
DR Congo and Mauritania take early points
DR Congo began Group E with a 2-0 home victory over Equatorial Guinea. Chancel Mbemba opened the scoring in the fourth minute before Yoane Wissa added the second.
Mauritania defeated Central African Republic 3-1 in Group F, while Libya recovered from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw against Botswana in Group H.
Namibia also started with a victory, defeating Congo 1-0 in Group G. Bethuel Muzeu scored the match’s only goal shortly after half-time.
Friday brings another full programme
The first matchday continues on Friday with another slate of fixtures, including Nigeria against Madagascar, Morocco against Gabon, Egypt against Angola, Algeria against Zambia, Senegal against Mozambique and Mali against Cape Verde.
Co-host Tanzania also begins its campaign against Guinea-Bissau. Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are automatically qualified for the finals, so the qualification rules differ in their respective groups: only the highest-ranked team outside the host nation advances from those groups.
Matchday 1 concludes on Saturday, when Kenya face Eritrea and South Africa host Guinea. The second round begins on 28 September, before the qualifying campaign resumes in November and concludes with its final rounds in March 2027.
References
- CAF: Zimbabwe comeback as Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire open with wins
- CAF: DR Congo and Mauritania make winning starts
- CAF: Namibia make winning start
- CAF: AFCON 2027 qualifying schedule and format
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