The preliminary round of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification tournament was held from 25 to 31 March 2026. It was contested by the twelve 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification entrants (out of a total of 54 CAF member associations) with the lowest FIFA rankings. The winners advanced to the group stage of the qualification tournament.
The twelve teams were split into six ties which were played in home-and-away two-legged format. The six winners (Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Somalia and South Sudan) advanced to the group stage to join the 42 teams which entered directly.
Draw The preliminary round draw was held on 13 January 2026, 14:00 CAT (UTC+2) at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. The twelve involved national teams were seeded into two pots of six based on the FIFA World Rankings from 19 November 2025 (shown in parentheses).
The teams in bold qualified for the qualifying group stage.
Pot 1 Pot 2 (144) (145) (147) (159) (168) (176) (177) (190) (196) (200) (203) (unranked)
Matches The first legs were played from 25 to 27 March, and the second legs were played on 29 and 31 March 2026.
South Sudan won 4–1 on aggregate.
Burundi won 8–0 on aggregate.
0–0 on aggregate; Somalia won 4–2 on penalties.
Lesotho won 2–1 on aggregate.
Eritrea won 4–1 on aggregate.
Ethiopia won 4–0 on aggregate.
Goalscorers
References