* eSwatini drawn against Eritrea as Mauritius date Somalia in the preliminaries to be played in two legs between March 25-31, 2026
* Whose six winners will join the other 42 CAF Member Associations in the group stage of the qualifiers
Maravi Express
Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) Seychelles and Lesotho have been drawn against each other in preliminary qualifying round of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2027 to be co-hosted by CECAFA nations, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
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The draw for the preliminary round qualifiers was concluded this afternoon in Cairo, Egypt, pitting 12 lower-placed nations are per the latest FIFA World Rankings that was released in December 2025 — Lesotho, Burundi, Ethiopia, eSwatini, South Sudan, Mauritius, Chad, São Tomé e Príncipe, Djibouti, Somalia, Seychelles and Eritrea — in their ranking order.
The other COSAFA nations eSwatini were drawn against Eritrea while Mauritius date Somalia to be played in two legs between March 25-31, 2026 — whose six winners will join the other 42 CAF Member Associations in the group stage of the qualifiers
Malawi Flames — who are placed 35 in Africa and 126 in the world ahead of the next FIFA Rankings update on January 19 — qualified directly for the group stage of the qualifiers alongside 41 other nations.
Djibouti and South Sudan meet in the preliminary qualifiers, which is a fixture between two East African nations, with Djibouti at home first while Chad will host Burundi in the first leg of their tie and Somalia welcoming Mauritius for the opening leg of their fixture — with São Tomé e Príncipe hosting Ethiopia for the first leg of their clash.
The CAF AfCON Kenya-Uganda-Tanzania 2027 will make history as the first time three nations have co-hosted African’s biggest show.
At the AfCON Morocco 2025, COSAFA region was represented by Zambia, Comoros, Zimbabwe, Angola, Botswana (in their first-ever appearance), South Africa ans Mozambique — but only Bafana Bafana and the Mambas qualified for the knockout stages of the Round of 16 where they were respectively ousted by Cameroon and tomorrow’s semifinalists, Nigeria.—Reporting by CAFonline; edited by Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express
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