The race for places at the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations got underway on Thursday with eight Match Day 1 fixtures played across Africa, as Nigeria prepare to begin their qualifying campaign against Madagascar on Friday.
The Super Eagles will host Madagascar at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, with kick-off scheduled for 5pm Nigerian time.
Nigeria are in Group L alongside Madagascar, Guinea-Bissau and co-hosts Tanzania. Because Tanzania have already secured an automatic place at the 2027 tournament, only the highest-placed team among Nigeria, Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau will claim the remaining qualification spot from the group.
Thursday’s results
Group C
Côte d’Ivoire 2-0 Ghana
The Elephants began their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Ghana. Malick Yalcouyé and Franck Kessié scored for the hosts.
Group E
DR Congo 2-0 Equatorial Guinea
Chancel Mbemba opened the scoring for DR Congo before Yoane Wissa added the second goal in the second half.
Group E
Sierra Leone 2-3 Zimbabwe
Sierra Leone established a 2-0 lead through Alie Conteh and Sallieu Tarawallie, but Zimbabwe produced a second-half comeback. Marshall Munetsi scored twice, while Tawanda Chirewa completed the turnaround.
Group F
Mauritania 3-1 Central African Republic
Mauritania recovered from conceding first to record a 3-1 victory. Aboubakary Koïta, Dawda Camara and Mamadou Diallo scored for the hosts.
Group G
Namibia 1-0 Congo
Bethuel Muzeu scored in the 47th minute to give Namibia victory.
Group G
Cameroon 3-1 Comoros
David Roy Nyengue, Bryan Mbeumo and Daniel Namaso were on target as Cameroon secured a 3-1 win over Comoros.
Group H
Tunisia 1-1 Uganda
Tunisia took the lead through Ali Arous, but Uganda responded through Rogers Mato to earn a point.
Group H
Libya 2-2 Botswana
Botswana surrendered a two-goal advantage as Libya fought back to draw 2-2. Tumisang Orebonye scored twice for Botswana before Maruwan Alhibeeshi and Ezoo El Mariamy’s stoppage-time penalty levelled the match.
Friday’s fixtures
The remaining Match Day 1 fixtures will be played on Friday, including Nigeria’s meeting with Madagascar.
Group A: Niger vs Lesotho, Morocco vs Gabon
Group B: Malawi vs South Sudan, Egypt vs Angola
Group C: Gambia vs Somalia
Group F: Burkina Faso vs Benin
Group I: Togo vs Burundi, Algeria vs Zambia
Group J: Sudan vs Ethiopia, Senegal vs Mozambique
Group K: Rwanda vs Liberia, Mali vs Cape Verde
Group L: Tanzania vs Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria vs Madagascar
Nigeria’s Group L challenge
Nigeria entered the campaign under pressure to secure qualification after missing out on the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Head coach Éric Chelle has called for a strong start, with the Super Eagles needing to collect points from their opening matches because only one of the three non-host nations in Group L will qualify.
After the Madagascar fixture, Nigeria will travel to Guinea-Bissau for their second Group L match on Tuesday, 29 September.
The Super Eagles will, however, be without striker Victor Osimhen, who has been ruled out of the opening qualifiers through injury. Chelle has attacking options including Tolu Arokodare, Akor Adams and George Ilenikhena.
Madagascar will enter the encounter with a memorable result against Nigeria to draw confidence from.
The Barea defeated the Super Eagles 2-0 at the 2019 AFCON in Egypt, where they went on to reach the quarter-finals.
However, Madagascar have struggled in recent AFCON qualifying campaigns, winning only two of their last 18 qualifying matches.
Nigeria have won three of their previous five meetings with Madagascar, with one draw and one defeat.
Qualification race
The 2027 AFCON qualifiers feature 48 nations divided into 12 groups of four. The qualifiers are being played across six matchdays.
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, as co-hosts, have automatic places at the tournament. In groups containing a co-host, the highest-ranked team among the other three nations qualifies.
The 2027 AFCON finals are scheduled to take place in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from 19 June to 17 July 2027.
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