Zambia To Battle Algeria, Togo and Burundi for 2027 AFCON Spot

Zambia’s national team, the Chipolopolo, have been placed in Group I alongside Algeria national football team, Togo national football team and Burundi national football team in the qualification race for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

The tournament will be jointly hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania under the “AFCON Pamoja 2027” banner.

The draw, which was held in Cairo on Wednesday afternoon, saw Zambia enter the competition from Pot Two.

The Chipolopolo are set for another showdown with Algeria, a side they previously battled during the qualifiers for the 2019 AFCON, while Togo brings back memories of the intense race for qualification to the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Only the top two teams from each group will secure qualification to the 2027 AFCON finals. However, groups containing any of the host nations will compete for just one qualification slot due to the automatic qualification granted to the hosts.

According to the qualification roadmap, Matchdays 1 and 2 will take place during the FIFA international window scheduled from 21 September to 6 October 2026.

Matchdays 3 and 4 are set for 9 to 17 November 2026, while the final round of fixtures, Matchdays 5 and 6, will be played between 22 and 30 March 2027.

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The final tournament itself is scheduled to run from 19 June to 17 July 2027 across the three East African host nations.