AFCON 2027 Qualifiers: CAF confirms pots ahead of preliminary round draw

The qualifying journey to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations gets under way on Tuesday when the Confederation of African Football conducts the draw for the preliminary round of the qualifiers, Sport360NG reports.

CAF on Monday released the official pots for the teams involved in the opening stage, outlining the framework for the first fixtures of the qualification campaign.

Pot 1: Lesotho, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eswatini, South Sudan, Mauritius
Pot 2: Chad, São Tomé & Príncipe, Djibouti, Somalia, Seychelles, Eritrea

Under the draw format, each team in Pot 1 will be paired with a team from Pot 2, with the lower-ranked side hosting the first leg of the two-legged ties.

The six aggregate winners from the preliminary round will progress to the group-stage draw of the AFCON 2027 qualifiers, where they will be joined by the continent’s top 42 ranked nations as the race begins for a place at Africa’s flagship international tournament.