The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed the official schedule for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), setting the stage for a historic tournament to be jointly hosted by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
In a statement released on Saturday, CAF announced that the competition will kick off on June 19, 2027, with the final slated for July 17, 2027.
The decision, according to CAF, received approval from the FIFA Council during its recent meeting held in Vancouver, Canada.
However, the specific host venues for both the opening match and the final are yet to be determined.
The 2027 edition is poised to make history as the first AFCON tournament to be staged across three nations.
CAF believes this unique arrangement will significantly boost the competition’s visibility, potentially reaching an audience of over 400 million people across the East African region.
Preparations are already underway, with the qualification process taking shape. CAF disclosed that the preliminary round has been concluded, while the draw for the qualifiers is scheduled for May 19, 2026. A total of 48 teams, including the three host nations, will battle for places in the tournament.
The qualifiers will be spread across three international windows. Matchdays 1 and 2 are fixed for September 21 to October 6, 2026, followed by Matchdays 3 and 4 from November 9 to 17, 2026.
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The final round of fixtures—Matchdays 5 and 6—will be played between March 22 and 30, 2027.
Teams will be grouped into 12 pools of four, with the top two sides from each group advancing to the main tournament.
Beyond its expanded hosting format, the 2027 AFCON also signals a return to East Africa for the first time in over five decades, since Ethiopia hosted the competition in 1976.
CAF expressed confidence that the upcoming edition will build on the commercial and global success recorded in recent tournaments, including 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, both of which saw increased sponsorship deals, revenue growth, and wider international viewership.
With timelines now confirmed, attention will gradually shift to the qualification race and infrastructure readiness as East Africa prepares to deliver a landmark edition of Africa’s premier football competition.