AFCON 2027: Nigeria face difficult qualification path

Nigeria’s Super Eagles will need to bring their best if they are to qualify for AFCON 2027 after they were placed in a tricky qualifying group. 

The Super Eagles, who reached the semi-final of the last edition, have been placed in a group that contains co-hosts Tanzania, Madagascar, and Guinea-Bissau. 

Ideally, this should not be a problem for the three-time African champions, but with just one team guaranteed to qualify from the group alongside Tanzania, this makes qualification tricky for Eric Chelle’s men. 

As per CAF, the top two teams will qualify from each group, aside from the groups that contain host nations.

With Tanzania being one of the hosts of next year’s AFCON, it means there is only one qualification slot available in Nigeria’s group. 

While the three-time African champions will still be the favourites to qualify, they cannot afford to underrate any team in their group, especially Madagascar. 

The Baréa will be Nigeria’s biggest threat in the group, even though they have lost three of their five meetings against the Super Eagles. 

Madagascar defeated Nigeria 2-0 at AFCON 2019, the last time the two sides met, and will be looking to repeat the trick. 

However, having missed out on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Nigeria cannot afford to miss out on another major tournament.

The qualifiers will run from September 2026 till March 2027, with the main competition kicking off on June 19, 2027, and finishing on July 17, 2027.