The schedule for the Africa Cup of Nations 2027 (AFCON 2027) has been officially confirmed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), with the tournament set to be co hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
It has been announced that the opening match will be played on Saturday, 19 June 2027, while the final will take place on Saturday, 17 July 2027. These dates were approved by the FIFA Council during its recent meeting in Vancouver. Details regarding the specific host venues for the opening match and final are expected to be released at a later stage.
A historic milestone will be marked by this edition, as it will be the first time the competition is staged across three nations. As a result, a wider audience is expected to be reached, with over 400 million people across the East African region anticipated to be engaged.
Attention has also been drawn to the qualification process. Following the completion of the preliminary round, the next phase will begin with the draw for the qualifiers on 19 May 2026. A total of 48 teams, including the three host nations, will compete for places at the finals.
The qualification matches will be played across three international windows. Matchdays one and two will be held between 21 September and 6 October 2026. This will be followed by matchdays three and four from 9 to 17 November 2026, before the final round of fixtures takes place between 22 and 30 March 2027.
All participating teams will be drawn into 12 groups of four, with the top two sides from each group progressing to the tournament.
A return of the competition to East Africa will also be recorded for the first time since Ethiopia hosted the tournament in 1976, adding further significance to the event.
Momentum from recent editions is expected to be carried forward, particularly after the success of 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, both of which delivered strong commercial growth, increased sponsorship, and wider global viewership.
