Ghana drawn against Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia and Somalia in AFCON 2027 qualifiers

Ghana have been drawn in Group C alongside Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia and Somalia for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

The draw was held on Tuesday at the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association in Cairo as African nations learned their routes to the continental tournament.

Ghana entered the draw from Pot 2 and were aware of the possibility of facing some of Africa’s top-ranked sides, including Morocco, Senegal and Nigeria. The Black Stars have now been handed a challenging group featuring former African champions Cote d’Ivoire, while Gambia and Somalia complete the four-team group.

The qualification campaign will follow CAF’s traditional format, with 48 teams divided into 12 groups of four. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the finals.

The 2027 tournament will be jointly hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in the first East African co-hosting arrangement in the competition’s modern era.

Ghana head into the qualifiers determined to avoid another disappointing campaign after failing to qualify for the previous edition in Morocco. The Black Stars finished bottom of their qualifying group behind Angola, Sudan and Niger.

CAF has also condensed the qualification schedule because of the short period before the finals, which are scheduled to run from June 19 to July 17, 2027.

Matchdays one and two will be played between September 21 and October 6, 2026, while matchdays three and four are set for November 9 to 17, 2026. The final two rounds of qualifiers will take place from March 22 to 30, 2027.