The race for spots at the 2027 AFCON begins on Thursday, September 24, 2026, as Ghana and the Ivory Coast take on each other.

The qualifiers will feature 48 national teams divided into 12 groups of four.

The opening round will be spread over three days, through Saturday, September 26, with several highly anticipated fixtures already on the schedule.

Here are the fixtures and times of Thursday:

Namibia – Congo: 13:00 GMT

DR Congo – Equatorial Guinea: 16:00 GMT

Mauritania – Central African Republic: 16:00 GMT

Libya – Botswana: 16:00 GMT

Côte d’Ivoire – Ghana: 19:00 GMT

Sierra Leone – Zimbabwe: 19:00 GMT

Cameroon – Comoros: 19:00 GMT

Tunisia – Uganda: 19:00 GMT