Olympic Eagles get U-23 AFCON qualifiers foes

CAF, the governing body for African football, has released the complete draw for the 2027 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers. The first round features 14 matches played over two legs, starting on September 28, 2026, with the return leg on October 6, 2026. The 42 participating nations include Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, DR Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, Equatorial Guinea, Togo, Libya, Tunisia, Benin, Kenya, Tanzania, Djibouti, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, Comoros, Madagascar, Angola, Namibia, Seychelles, Botswana, Malawi, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, and Mauritius.

The winners of the first round matches will advance to the second round, where they will face higher-ranked or seeded teams. The second-round pairings are as follows: Zambia, Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Gabon, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Morocco, Cameroon, South Africa, Congo, Guinea, South Africa, Mali, and Algeria. All 42 teams are vying for the seven remaining spots at the 2027 finals in Egypt, which will also serve as Africa's path to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Egypt, the host nation, has already qualified automatically.