AFCON 2027: Nigeria Drawn Into Tough Qualification Group

• Nigeria national football team will need a near-perfect campaign to avoid missing out on the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations after Tuesday’s qualifying draw raised the stakes in their group.

Nigeria national football team have been drawn in Group L of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, where they will battle Madagascar national football team, Tanzania national football team and Guinea-Bissau national football team for a place at the tournament.

The draw ceremony was held at the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association in Cairo on Tuesday.

Former Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong participated in the event as one of the official draw assistants.

A total of 48 national teams will participate in the qualification series, with the draw producing 12 groups.

Twenty-four teams are expected to qualify for the tournament finals.

The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations will be jointly hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from June 19 to July 17, 2027.

Nigeria were drawn from Pot 1 and handed what many observers consider a relatively favourable route to qualification.

However, because Tanzania have already qualified automatically as co-hosts, only the top team in Group L will secure automatic qualification for the tournament.

The same qualification rule applies to every group containing one of the co-host nations.

In the remaining groups without host countries, the top two teams will qualify for the finals.

Elsewhere in the draw, reigning 2023 champions Ivory Coast national football team were drawn alongside Ghana national football team, Gambia national football team and Somalia national football team in Group C.

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Senegal national football team, winners of the 2025 edition, will face Mozambique national football team, Sudan national football team and Ethiopia national football team in Group J.

Meanwhile, 2025 AFCON hosts Morocco national football team were paired with Gabon national football team, Niger national football team and Lesotho national football team.

The qualification campaign will be played across three FIFA international windows.

The opening two matchdays are scheduled to take place between September 21 and October 6, 2026.

Matchdays Three and Four will hold from November 9 to 17, 2026, while the final round of qualification matches is expected to be played between March 22 and 30, 2027.