AFCON 2027 qualifiers: Teams, top players, schedule, format, matches

The qualifiers for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations begin on Thursday, with 48 countries competing to earn spots in Africa’s biggest football tournament.Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda will cohost AFCON 2027, as the competition returns to East Africa for the first time in 51 years.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4The return of Palestinian football: ‘We are a people who must live’list 2 of 4FIFA President Infantino’s letter a ploy for re-election, says German FAlist 3 of 4La Liga President Tebas slams Real Madrid refereeing ‘conspiracy’ claimslist 4 of 4Embattled Gianni Infantino says he is open to talks over FIFA reformend of listDivided into 12 groups, the teams will be involved in a six-round qualifying process that runs to March next year.Here’s everything to know about AFCON 2027:Which teams are in the AFCON 2027 qualifiers?The draw for the AFCON 2027 qualifiers took place in Cairo, Egypt, in May.The 48 teams competing in the qualifiers are as follows: Group A: Morocco, Gabon, Niger, Lesotho Group B: Egypt, Angola, Malawi, South Sudan Group C: Ivory Coast, Ghana, The Gambia, Somalia Group D: South Africa, Guinea, Kenya, Eritrea Group E: Democratic Republic of the Congo, E...