AFCON 2027 qualifying: Algeria, Morocco and nine other sides make winning starts

The opening round of Africa Cup of Nations 2027 qualifying has left Algeria, Morocco, Cote d’Ivoire, RD Congo, Mauritania, Cameroon, Togo, Sudan, Mali and Guinea-Bissau among the teams to begin with three points.

All 24 matches in the first round have now been played, providing the first indication of how the 12 qualifying groups may develop.

The early standings remain particularly tight in several sections. Group H is completely level after Libya drew 2-2 with Botswana and Tunisia were held to a 1-1 draw by Uganda.

There is a similar situation in Group F, where Burkina Faso and Benin are level after their opening fixture. In Group J, Senegal and Mozambique both have one point.

The qualification format creates an additional complication in Groups D, H and L because Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are automatically guaranteed places at the Africa Cup of Nations 2027 as co-hosts.

That means only one of the other three teams in each of those groups can claim the second available qualification place. The leading side among those remaining teams will therefore join the automatically qualified co-host in the finals.

The standings after the opening round are organised across the following 12 sections:

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

Group I

Group J

Group K

Group L

With the first matches complete, the teams that collected three points have the early advantage, while the drawn groups remain finely balanced ahead of the next round of fixtures.