Super Eagles Draw Tanzania, Madagascar, Guinea-Bissau in AFCON 2027 Qualifiers
CAIRO, Egypt — Nigeria’s Super Eagles have been handed a seemingly navigable path to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after being drawn into Group L alongside Madagascar, tournament co-hosts Tanzania, and Guinea-Bissau.
The official draw, conducted on Tuesday afternoon at the Egyptian Football Association headquarters in Cairo, mapped out the journey for 48 African nations split across 12 groups of four teams each. While the standard tournament rules dictate that the top two teams from each pool advance to the finals, a unique caveat applies to groups containing any of the tournament’s co-hosts.
Because Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania already secure automatic qualification as hosts but are still participating in the qualifiers, only one other team will advance from their respective groups. For Nigeria, this means the margin for error in Group L is incredibly slim: with Tanzania already guaranteed a spot, the Super Eagles must outperform Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau to secure the solitary remaining qualification ticket from their pool.
The final 24-team showpiece is scheduled to be jointly hosted across East Africa from June 19 to July 17, 2027.
The Super Eagles boast a rich and storied history in Africa’s premier football showpiece, having won the tournament three times (1980, 1994, and 2013). Renowned for their consistency, Nigeria has also finished as runners-up on five occasions — most recently at the 2023 edition in Côte d’Ivoire — and has claimed the bronze medal an impressive eight times, including earlier this year in Morocco.
Despite their historical pedigree, the Super Eagles will be wary of complacency in Group L. Madagascar famously shocked Nigeria with a 2-0 victory during the 2019 AFCON group stage, while Guinea-Bissau stunned the Eagles 1-0 in Abuja during the 2023 qualifiers. With only one qualification slot up for grabs alongside Tanzania, the stakes have never been higher for the West African giants.
The qualifying marathon will be played out over six matchdays across three designated FIFA international windows. Two qualifying matches will be played per team in each of the following windows:
Window 1 (Matchdays 1 & 2): September 21 – October 6, 2026
Window 2 (Matchdays 3 & 4): November 9 – 17, 2026
Window 3 (Matchdays 5 & 6): March 22 – 30, 2027
The road to East Africa features several mouth-watering matchups across the continent, highlighted by a heavyweight West African clash between Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana in Group C.
Group A: Morocco, Gabon, Niger Republic, Lesotho
Group B: Egypt, Angola, Malawi, South Sudan
Group C: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, The Gambia, Somalia
Group D: South Africa, Guinea, Kenya, Eritrea (Only highest-ranked team outside of co-host Kenya qualifies)
Group E: DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe
Group F: Burkina Faso, Benin Republic, Mauritania, Central African Republic
Group G: Cameroon, Comoros, Namibia, Congo
Group H: Tunisia, Uganda, Libya, Botswana (Only highest-ranked team outside of co-host Uganda qualifies)
Group I: Algeria, Zambia, Togo, Burundi
Group J: Senegal, Mozambique, Sudan, Ethiopia
Group K: Mali, Cape Verde, Rwanda, Liberia
Group L: Nigeria, Madagascar, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau (Only highest-ranked team outside of co-host Tanzania qualifies)
