The first round of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers kicks off on Thursday with eight fixtures, including an all West African affair between Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana in Bouaké.
The two neighbours feature in Group C as Hervé Renard’s return to the Côte d’Ivoire dugout.
Also in Group C, Gambia will host Somalia in Banjul on Friday.
Earlier on Thursday, Namibia will host Congo in Group G, followed by the Group E encounter between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and Equatorial Guinea.
At the same time, Mauritania will face the Central African Republic in Group F, while Libya will take on Botswana in Group H.
Sierra Leone will host Zimbabwe in Group E, as Cameroon take on Comoros in Group G, and Tunisia play Uganda in Group H.
The opening round of fixtures will continue on Friday with several high-profile encounters, including Morocco-Gabon, Egypt-Angola, Algeria-Zambia and Senegal-Mozambique.
Senegal’s Lions will begin their qualifying campaign against Mozambique in Group J.
A total of 48 national teams are taking part in this qualifying phase, divided into 12 groups of four teams. The top two teams in each group are normally expected to qualify for the final tournament, with a special arrangement applying to groups involving the three host nations — Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
The 2027 AFCON finals are scheduled to take place from June 19 to July 17, 2027, in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
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