The Ghana national football team, the Black Stars, will begin their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying campaign against Côte d'Ivoire on September 24, 2026, at 7:00 pm Ghana time. The match will be played in Bouaké. This was confirmed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as the full Matchday 1 and 2 fixtures, dates, and kick-off times were released. A total of 48 countries have been placed into 12 groups of four teams for the qualifying campaign.
The Black Stars will then host The Gambia on September 29, 2026, at 4:00 pm at the Accra Sports Stadium. The first two matchdays will have 48 matches played, with teams beginning their six-match journey to qualify for the tournament to be hosted by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda from June 19 to July 17, 2027. The top two teams in each group will normally qualify for the 24-team AFCON tournament. However, because Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are automatically qualified as co-hosts, the qualification rules are different in their groups.
In the groups of the host nations, only the highest-ranked team apart from the host nation will qualify for the finals. Kenya are in Group D, Uganda are in Group H, while Tanzania are in Group L. The TotalEnergies CAF AFCON PAMOJA 2027 will mark AFCON's return to East Africa for the first time since Ethiopia hosted the competition in 1976. Matchday 1 and 2 fixtures and kick-off times were released, listing all matches across the 12 qualifying groups.
On September 24, several matches will be played, including Namibia vs Congo, DR Congo vs Equatorial Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire vs Ghana. More matches will follow on September 25 and 26. The second matchday will take place from September 28 to October 6, 2026. The Ghana-Côte d'Ivoire clash is one of the biggest matches of the opening round.
The race for places at the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations begins this week, with the first two rounds of qualifying matches scheduled from Thursday, September 24 to Tuesday, October 6, 2026. The Black Stars' second game against The Gambia is scheduled for 4:00 pm on Tuesday, September 29 at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The 2027 AFCON tournament is scheduled to take place from June 19 to July 17, 2027. The competition will be hosted by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, marking the first time that East Africa will host the tournament since 1976.
The Black Stars left Accra on Wednesday for their crucial Côte d'Ivoire AFCON qualifier. Key players, including Antoine Semenyo, have withdrawn from the Black Stars squad due to injury, dealing a major blow to the team.
Key points
- The Black Stars begin their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign against Côte d'Ivoire on September 24, 2026.
- The top two teams in each group will normally qualify for the 24-team AFCON tournament.
- The 2027 AFCON tournament will be hosted by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda from June 19 to July 17, 2027.
