The preliminary round draw for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers was conducted on Tuesday, setting up a series of competitive regional encounters ahead of the tournament to be hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
This opening phase will feature 12 nations, made up of the lowest-ranked teams on the continent according to the FIFA rankings, with only six progressing to join the 42 countries already assured of places in the group stage of the qualifiers.
The draw produced several intriguing match-ups across different regions of Africa. In Southern Africa, Seychelles have been paired with Lesotho, while East Africa will witness a keenly contested clash between Djibouti and South Sudan.
Elsewhere, Chad are set to face Burundi, Somalia will take on Mauritius, Eritrea have been drawn against Eswatini, and Sao Tome and Principe will battle Ethiopia for a place in the next round.
All ties in this preliminary phase are scheduled to be played during the next international window, with matches taking place between March 25 and 31.
