{"id":26747,"date":"2026-01-12T14:47:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kick442.com\/?p=26747"},"modified":"2026-01-12T14:47:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:47:43","slug":"afcon-2027-qualifying-journey-begins-with-preliminary-round-draw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kick442.com\/fr\/afcon-2027-qualifying-journey-begins-with-preliminary-round-draw\/","title":{"rendered":"AFCON 2027 qualifying journey begins with preliminary round draw"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>By Neilley Claude EBESSA<\/b><\/p>\n<p><strong>Journalist kick442.com &#8211; Cameroon<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The road to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations officially begins on Tuesday, when the preliminary round draw for the qualifiers takes place live on CAF TV.<\/p>\n<p>The draw will be held at 13:00 local time (12:00 GMT \/ 14:00 Cairo) and will determine the first match-ups on Africa\u2019s journey to the continent\u2019s flagship football tournament, which will be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Lowest-ranked teams enter early battle<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A total of 12 teams, ranked lowest in the current FIFA standings, will contest the preliminary round, battling for six places in the group stage of the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON 2027 Qualifiers. The winners will join 42 nations that have already secured automatic passage to the group phase.<\/p>\n<p>The preliminary round teams have been divided into two pots based on ranking.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Pot 1 contains:<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nLesotho, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eswatini, South Sudan and Mauritius.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Pot 2 includes:<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nChad, S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 &amp; Pr\u00edncipe, Djibouti, Somalia, Seychelles and Eritrea.<\/p>\n<p>Each team from Pot 1 will be drawn against a team from Pot 2, with the first leg hosted by the lower-ranked side, giving underdogs an early opportunity to claim an advantage.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>High stakes from the start<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The format ensures immediate jeopardy, with only the six aggregate winners advancing to the next stage. Those teams will qualify for the Group Stage Draw of the AFCON 2027 qualifiers, where Africa\u2019s established heavyweights await.<\/p>\n<p>For many of the teams involved, the preliminary round represents not just a route into the qualifiers, but a rare opportunity to build momentum, confidence and competitive rhythm early in the campaign.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Eyes on East Africa 2027<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>AFCON 2027 will mark a historic moment as Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania jointly host the tournament, the first time three East African nations have co-hosted the competition. Preparations are already under way, with qualification now officially set in motion.<\/p>\n<p>As the draw takes place, Africa\u2019s long journey toward continental glory begins \u2014 with dreams ignited, pressure immediate, and no margin for error from the very first tie.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Neilley Claude EBESSA Journalist kick442.com &#8211; Cameroon The road to the 2027 Africa&hellip;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":26748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[140,39,225,25,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afcon","category-african-football","category-caf","category-fifa","category-football"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>AFCON 2027 qualifying journey begins with preliminary round draw - KICK442 Sport News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kick442.com\/fr\/afcon-2027-qualifying-journey-begins-with-preliminary-round-draw\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AFCON 2027 qualifying journey begins with preliminary round draw - KICK442 Sport News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Neilley Claude EBESSA Journalist kick442.com &#8211; 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