By Awambeng Fuh<\/b><\/p>\n
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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has officially unveiled the fixtures for the preliminary round of qualification for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), setting the stage for the first competitive steps on the road to the continent\u2019s flagship tournament.<\/p>\n
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Twelve nations will contest six two-legged ties, with the winners advancing to the main qualification phase, where Africa\u2019s higher-ranked teams await.<\/p>\n
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Preliminary round fixtures<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Djibouti vs South Sudan<\/p>\n \u2022 Chad vs Burundi<\/p>\n \u2022 Somalia vs Mauritius<\/p>\n \u2022 Seychelles vs Lesotho<\/p>\n \u2022 Eritrea vs Eswatini<\/p>\n \u2022 S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 and Pr\u00edncipe vs Ethiopia<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For several of the teams involved, the preliminary round represents a crucial opportunity to build momentum and revive international ambitions. Ethiopia, one of the continent\u2019s more established footballing nations, will be expected to navigate their tie against S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 and Pr\u00edncipe, while Burundi and South Sudan will be looking to continue recent signs of progress.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Smaller nations such as Seychelles, Djibouti and S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 and Pr\u00edncipe will see the fixtures as a chance to make a rare impact on the continental stage, with home-and-away matches offering the possibility of historic qualification breakthroughs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n CAF is expected to confirm match dates and venues in the coming weeks. The winners of these ties will progress to join the rest of Africa\u2019s national teams in the group stage of AFCON 2027 qualification.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Africa Cup of Nations remains one of world football\u2019s most competitive international tournaments, with qualification often providing drama long before the finals begin.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Awambeng Fuh The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has officially unveiled the…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":26782,"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-26781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afcon","category-african-football","category-caf","category-fifa","category-football"],"yoast_head":"\n