Africa Cup of Nations 2027 qualifying: group standings and key rules explained

The race for the 24 places at the Africa Cup of Nations 2027 is under way, with the tournament scheduled to take place in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from 19 June to 17 July 2027.

Morocco and DR Congo are among the teams to have won both of their opening matches and made perfect starts to the qualifying campaign.

Cote d’Ivoire and Gambia, along with Mali and Rwanda, have already opened up a six-point advantage over third place in their respective groups. Ghana and Cape Verde, however, are already facing an uphill battle after taking no points from their first two games and falling six points behind the qualifying places.

There are still four rounds to play, in November 2026 and March 2027, meaning the standings can change significantly before the qualifiers conclude.

How qualification works

The final tournament will feature 24 teams and will be staged across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The three countries were appointed as co-hosts, despite persistent rumours that the 2027 edition could be moved to another country.

Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have qualified automatically as hosts. They are nevertheless taking part in the qualifying competition so they can play official matches in their respective groups.

A total of 48 teams are involved in the group stage. They have been divided into 12 groups of four. Before that stage began, 12 of the lowest-ranked nations contested a preliminary round, with the six winners joining the 42 teams admitted directly to the group phase.

The qualifiers are played as a mini-league, with each team facing every other side home and away. Each nation therefore plays six matches in total, including three at home and three away.

In the nine groups without a host nation - groups A, B, C, E, F, G, I, J and K - the top two teams qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations 2027.

The presence of the three hosts changes the number of qualifying places in their groups. Kenya are in Group D alongside South Africa, Guinea and Eritrea. Uganda are in Group H with Tunisia, Libya and Botswana, while Tanzania are in Group L alongside Nigeria, Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau.

Because the host nations are already certain of their places, only one additional qualification spot is available in each of those three groups. The highest-ranked team among the other three nations in each group will advance.

Contrary to some reports, results against the host nations are expected to count towards the group standings.

Tiebreaking criteria

Teams are first separated by points. A win is worth three points, a draw one and a defeat none, meaning a side can collect a maximum of 18 points across the six matchdays.

If two teams finish level, the CAF’s head-to-head criteria are applied first. These are points gained in matches between the teams, goal difference in those games, goals scored and away goals scored.

When more than two teams are tied, the head-to-head criteria are initially applied across all the teams involved. If only two remain level, the same criteria are then reassessed using only their matches against each other.

If they still cannot be separated, overall goal difference, total goals scored and away goals scored across the group are considered. A draw conducted by CAF is the final method of deciding the ranking.