Teams from the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) Zone Djibouti and South Sudan will face off in the preliminary round of the AFCON 2027 qualifiers.

The draw for the preliminary round of the qualifiers was conducted on January 13th in Rabat, Morocco. Twelve lowly ranked teams as per the FIFA rankings were drawn.

Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will host the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2027.

Eritrea who also return to the AFCON qualifiers after some years will take on Eswatini, while Ethiopia will battle Sao Tome & Principe. Burundi will also face Chad in the other match, and Somalia take on Mauritius.

According to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the preliminary matches for the qualifiers will be played during the next FIFA International Window, March 25-31 March 2026.

The six winners of the preliminary round ties over two legs will advance to join the other 42 CAF Member Associations in the group stage of the qualifiers.

Preliminary round fixture

Djibouti vs South Sudan

Chad vs Burundi

Somalia vs Mauritius

Seychelles vs Lesotho

Eritrea vs Eswatini

Sao Tome & Principe vs Ethiopia