The draw for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers has officially set the roadmap to the continental showpiece, with Rwanda placed in Group K alongside Mali, Cape Verde, and Liberia.
The draw ceremony, conducted on Tuesday 19/5/2026 in Cairo where African football nations were allocated into qualifying groups for the campaign leading to the finals, which will be jointly hosted by Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda.
The qualification system follows the Confederation of African Football (CAF) standard format, with 48 national teams divided into 12 groups of four. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the AFCON 2027 finals, which will feature 24 teams in total. The qualifying matches will be played across several international windows between 2026 and 2027.
Rwanda’s national team, the Amavubi, faces a competitive Group K that includes Mali, Cape Verde, and Liberia. The group is expected to be particularly demanding for Rwanda, especially against Mali and Cape Verde, both of whom have recent AFCON experience and strong records in African competition. Liberia completes the group and adds another competitive dimension to the fixture list.
There is also added interest surrounding Liberia, which is reportedly under the leadership of Adil Erradi Mohammed, a coach previously linked with APR FC in Rwanda, although this information has not been officially confirmed.
The 2027 AFCON finals will be co-hosted by Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, marking a historic moment for East African football. The three host nations were also drawn into qualification groups: Kenya in Group D, Uganda in Group H, and Tanzania in Group L. However, CAF regulations often grant automatic qualification to host nations, meaning their participation in the qualifiers may depend on final competition rules.
Full AFCON 2027 Qualifying Groups
Group A: Lesotho, Niger, Gabon, Morocco
Group B: South Sudan, Malawi, Angola, Egypt
Group C: Somalia, The Gambia, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire
Group D: Eritrea, Kenya, Guinea, South Africa
Group E: Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea, DR Congo
Group F: Central African Republic, Mauritania, Benin, Burkina Faso
Group G: Congo, Namibia, Comoros, Cameroon
Group H: Botswana, Libya, Uganda, Tunisia
Group I: Burundi, Togo, Zambia, Algeria
Group J: Ethiopia, Sudan, Mozambique, Senegal
Group K: Liberia, Rwanda, Cape Verde, Mali
Group L: Guinea-Bissau, Tanzania, Madagascar, Nigeria
The qualifiers will be staged across three international windows:
- Matchdays 1-2: 21 September – 6 October 2026
- Matchdays 3-4: 9 – 17 November 2026
- Matchdays 5-6: 22 – 30 March 2027
The AFCON 2027 finals are scheduled to take place from 19 June to 17 July 2027.
Group K is widely viewed as one of the more competitive pools, with Mali and Cape Verde expected to be strong contenders for qualification. Rwanda’s chances will largely depend on consistency across six matches in a tightly packed campaign, as only the top two teams from each group will advance to the finals.
