The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed the dates for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which will be jointly hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
In a statement released on Saturday, CAF announced that the tournament will kick off on June 19, 2027, while the final will be played on July 17, 2027.
“The opening match will be played on Saturday, 19 June 2027, and the final on Saturday, 17 July 2027,” CAF stated.
The football governing body said the dates were approved by the FIFA Council during its recent meeting in Vancouver, Canada.
CAF added that the host nation for both the opening match and the final will be announced later.
The 2027 edition will be historic as it marks the first time the Africa Cup of Nations will be hosted by three countries.
According to CAF, the tournament presents an opportunity to expand the reach of African football to more than 400 million people across East Africa.
On the qualification process, CAF disclosed that the preliminary round has already been concluded, while the draw for the qualifiers will take place on May 19, 2026.
A total of 48 countries, including the three host nations, are expected to participate in the qualification series.
“The Qualifiers will be played across the three FIFA International Windows. Matchdays 1 and 2: 21 September to 6 October 2026.
“Matchdays 3 and 4: 9 to 17 November 2026; Matchdays 5 and 6: 22 to 30 March 2027,” CAF stated.
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The body further explained that the participating teams will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each, with the top two teams from every group qualifying for the tournament.
The competition will also mark the return of AFCON to East Africa for the first time since Ethiopia hosted the tournament in 1976.
CAF noted that the 2027 edition is expected to build on the commercial and global success recorded during recent tournaments hosted by Morocco and Côte d’Ivoire.