beIN Sports secures exclusive French TV rights for 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers

The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers begin on Thursday, with beIN Sports holding exclusive broadcasting rights in France for the campaign.

The announcement will be of particular interest to the large African diaspora in France, although supporters will not be able to watch every qualifying match on the channel.

A total of 48 African national teams will take part in the qualifying competition. The fixtures will be played across six matchdays between September 2026 and March 2027, with 24 teams earning places at the next Africa Cup of Nations.

The tournament will be staged in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda from 19 June 2027 to 17 July 2027.

beIN Sports has held the rights to African football in France for several years and broadcast the past five editions of the Africa Cup of Nations. The Qatar-based broadcaster also owns the rights to the 2027 tournament itself and was the broadcaster for the most recent World Cup.

However, its coverage of the qualifying competition will be limited to a selection of matches on each matchday rather than the full programme. The broadcaster is expected to show all matches involving Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Across the first two matchdays at the end of September, approximately one third of the 48 matches will be shown, with 17 games scheduled for broadcast.

The opening fixtures will be played on Thursday 24 September, Friday 25 September, Monday 28 September and Tuesday 29 September.

Which beIN Sports channels will show the matches?

The channel used for each fixture will depend on beIN Sports’ programming choices. Six matches from the first two matchdays will be shown on beIN 1, while four will be broadcast on beIN 2.

Three games are scheduled for beIN 4, with a further two on beIN 5. One match will be carried by beIN 6 and another by beIN 7.

beIN Sports is available in France only through a subscription, meaning there will be no full free-to-air coverage of the qualifiers.

The rights situation is different elsewhere in Africa. In North Africa, beIN Sports Mena holds the broadcasting rights, while Canal+ is the rights holder for the qualifiers in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa.

In most cases, however, both private groups are expected to allow national public broadcasters to show their own country’s matches for free and on an unencrypted basis.