Super Eagles draw Madagascar, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau in AFCON qualifiers

Super Eagles will face Madagascar, Tanzania and Guinea-Bissau in Group L of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers following Tuesday’s draw ceremony in Cairo, Egypt.

The draw officially launched the qualification race for the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON PAMOJA 2027 tournament, which will be jointly hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Although Tanzania are one of the co-hosts and already guaranteed qualification for the tournament, they will still participate in the qualifiers, leaving only one additional ticket available from Group L.

For Nigeria, the draw offers both opportunity and a difficult test as the Super Eagles continue their quest to return to continental dominance after finishing third at the 2025 AFCON in Morocco.

The three-time African champions entered the draw as one of the top-seeded nations alongside Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, Egypt and defending champions Côte d’Ivoire.

On paper, Eric Chelle’s side are favourites to qualify from the group, but recent AFCON campaigns have repeatedly shown the growing competitiveness across African football.

Madagascar remain one of the continent’s dangerous emerging teams after reaching the quarter-finals during their debut appearance at the 2019 AFCON.

Guinea-Bissau have also become regular participants in recent editions of the competition and are expected to provide another difficult challenge.

Tanzania, meanwhile, are likely to be boosted by home support and increased investment in football ahead of co-hosting the finals.

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The qualification campaign will run across FIFA international windows between September 2026 and March 2027.

Matchdays one and two are scheduled for September and October 2026, while the remaining fixtures will take place in November 2026 and March 2027.

The Super Eagles will hope to avoid the qualification struggles that affected parts of their recent World Cup campaign and instead build strong momentum under Chelle ahead of the tournament.

Tuesday’s draw ceremony also featured several African football legends, including former Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong, who assisted with the draw alongside Essam El Hadary, Max-Alain Gradel and Trésor Mputu.

The 2027 AFCON tournament will run from June 19 to July 17 across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, marking the first time three countries will jointly host the competition.

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