The Chipolopolo will know their opponents for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers when the draw is conducted in Cairo on Tuesday.
A total of 48 teams will participate in the qualifiers, with the draw producing 12 groups, with 24 teams to qualify for the finals. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have taken three of those places as co-hosts but will still participate in the qualifiers.
The ceremony will take place at the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) from 12h00 GMT (15h00 local time). Zambia is in Pot 2 alongside teams like Ghana, Cape Verde, Guinea, Gabon, Uganda, Angola, and Benin.
Others are Mozambique, Madagascar, Equatorial Guinea and Comoros. The top ranked teams are in Pot 1 which include Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt and Ivory Coast. The rest are Tunisia, Cameroon, DR Congo, Mali, South Africa and Burkina Faso and Zambia could meet any of them depending on the draw.
According to the roadmap the first two games will be played in the FIFA International Window from 21 September-6 October 2026. Matchdays 3 & 4 will be played 9-17 November 2026 and the final Matchdays 5 & 6 from 22-30 March 2027.
The final tournament will be played from 19 June to 17 July 2027 and will be co-hosted by three East African countries namely Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Teams were seeded into four pots of 12 based on FIFA rankings, with top-tier teams like Morocco, Senegal, and Nigeria in Pot 1, while co-hosts Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda were placed in Pot 3.
The Chipolopolo will be looking to making their 20th AFCON appearance at Africa’s top tier competition.
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