CAF Locks In June 19 Start For Historic Three-Nation AFCON 2027
African football’s flagship continental tournament has been firmly pencilled into the calendar. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has officially announced that the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations will open on Saturday, June 19, 2027, and conclude with the final on Saturday, July 17, 2027, making the dates and the host arrangement among the most consequential decisions in the competition’s seven-decade history.
CAF disclosed the dates in a statement on Saturday, noting that they were approved by the FIFA Council at its recent meeting in Vancouver, Canada. The body added that the specific host country for both the opening match and the final will be announced at a later date.
The 2027 edition will be the 36th instalment of the tournament and the first to be co-hosted by three nations — Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania — and also the first in five decades to return to the CECAFA region since Ethiopia staged it in 1976. CAF described the arrangement as an opportunity to bring the competition to over 400 million people across the East African region.
The dates were secured after concerns that the three co-hosts might not be ready were addressed, with CAF President Patrice Motsepe having reportedly fought off attempts to push the tournament to 2028. Motsepe was quoted as saying, “We have worked hard to ensure that the AFCON is held in East Africa, and our commitment remains unwavering. I am confident that we will organise a very successful AFCON in these three countries.”
Kenya’s Local Organising Committee Chairman Nicholas Musonye also responded to the date confirmation, stating: “These dates give us clarity on what needs to be done and when to ensure that everything is in place for the tournament,” adding that he would remain personally accountable for expenditure through to the end of the competition.
On the road to the tournament, the preliminary qualifying round has been completed, with the draw for the main qualifiers scheduled for May 19, 2026. A total of 48 teams, including the three co-hosts, will be drawn into 12 groups of four, with the top two from each group advancing to the final tournament.
The qualifying matches will run across three FIFA international windows: Matchdays 1 and 2 from September 21 to October 6, 2026; Matchdays 3 and 4 from November 9 to 17, 2026; and Matchdays 5 and 6 from March 22 to 30, 2027.
CAF also confirmed that 2027 will be the last AFCON held in an odd-numbered year, as the body announced in December 2025 that the competition will transition to a quadrennial format from 2028 onwards. The tournament is branded under the “Pamoja” theme — Swahili for “together” — a deliberate nod to the spirit of East African unity driving the historic co-hosting arrangement.