By McGeorge Mbare
The Confederation of African Football has begun its preparation for the Africa Cup of Nations 2027, which will be cohosted by the Eastern African nations, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
In a statement, CAF confirmed that only 12 continental lower ranked nations will take part in the preliminary round, while the 42 high ranked will directly qualify for the group stages of the qualifiers.
“A total of 12 teams will take part in the Preliminary Round, which contains the lower placed sides in the latest FIFA World Rankings, while the remaining 42 nations have qualified directly for the group stage of the qualifiers.
The 12 teams, In ranking order, are Lesotho, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eswatini, South Sudan, Mauritius, Chad, São Tomé and Príncipe, Djibouti, Somalia, Seychelles and Eritrea,” CAF statement reads.
The preliminary round will see the 12 teams divided into two Pots. The six highest-ranked teams in Pot 1 will face the six lowest-ranked teams in Pot 2, with the first leg of each tie played at the home venue of the lower-ranked team.
After the conclusion of the preliminary round, the six winning teams will advance to join the 42 highest-ranked nations in the draw for the Group Stage matches of the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON 2027 Qualifiers.