Nigeria’s Super Eagles will learn their opponents for the qualification series of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations on Tuesday as the Confederation of African Football prepares for the official draw in Cairo, Egypt.The draw, scheduled to hold at the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association, marks the beginning of the race to the continental showpiece tournament which will be jointly hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from June 19 to July 17, 2027.Nigeria has been placed in Pot 1 alongside African football heavyweights including Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, Egypt and defending champions Côte d’Ivoire.Being among the top-seeded nations means the Super Eagles will avoid facing other Pot 1 teams during the group stage qualifiers, but they could still be handed challenging fixtures against strong sides in Pot 2 such as Ghana, Cape Verde, Zambia, Benin and Angola.The qualification series will feature 48 countries drawn into 12 groups, with matches to be played on a home-and-away basis across three FIFA international windows between September 2026 and March 2027.While Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have already secured automatic qualification as tournament hosts, the three nations will still participate in the qualifiers. CAF explained that only one additional team will qualify from any group containing a host nation, while the remaining groups will produce two qualifiers each.Nigeria will head into the campaign aiming to secure an early qualification ticket and continue its strong pedigree in African football after consistently remaining among the continent’s leading teams.The Super Eagles are expected to be among the favourites once again, but recent AFCON qualification campaigns have shown that emerging nations are becoming increasingly competitive, making every away fixture and dropped point potentially decisive.The opening round of matches will take place between September 21 and October 6, 2026, while Matchdays 3 and 4 are scheduled for November 9 to 17, 2026. The final qualification matches will be played from March 22 to 30, 2027.Fans across Nigeria will now await Tuesday’s draw to discover the Super Eagles’ path to the continental tournament as preparations begin for another push toward African football glory.AFCON 2027 qualifying draw potsPot 1: Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire, Tunisia, Cameroon, DR Congo, Mali, South Africa, Burkina FasoPot 2: Cape Verde, Ghana, Guinea, Gabon, Uganda, Angola, Benin, Zambia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Equatorial Guinea, ComorosPot 3: Kenya, Libya, Tanzania, Niger, Mauritania, The Gambia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Togo, Malawi, RwandaPot 4: Zimbabwe, Guinea-Bissau, Congo, Central African Republic, Liberia, Burundi, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Botswana, South Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia
Nigeria Placed Among Top Seeds Ahead of AFCON 2027 Qualifiers Draw
