Nigeria’s Super Eagles have been drawn into Group L for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, where they will face Madagascar, Tanzania, and Guinea-Bissau.
The draw ceremony, conducted by African football legends including former Super Eagles captain, William Troost-Ekong, Egypt’s Essam El Hadary, Côte d’Ivoire’s Max-Alain Gradel, and DR Congo’s Trésor Mputu, mapped out the road to the tournament for 48 competing nations.
Fresh off a third-place finish at the 2025 AFCON, Nigeria will look to secure their spot in the continental showpiece, which is set to be co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The qualification format, confirmed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), divides the 48 participating nations into 12 groups of four, with the top two teams from each group typically securing automatic qualification.
However, a unique twist applies to Group L; because Tanzania has already qualified automatically as a co-host alongside Kenya and Uganda, only one additional team will progress from Nigeria’s group.
This significantly raises the stakes for the Super Eagles, who must essentially top the group or finish ahead of Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau to guarantee their ticket to the finals.
The battle for qualification will be fiercely contested across three FIFA international windows between September 2026 and March 2027.
Nigeria will kick off their campaign with matchdays one and two scheduled between September 21 and October 6, 2026.
The intensity will ramp up with matchdays three and four taking place from November 9 to 17, 2026, before the final, decisive round of qualifiers wraps up the campaign between March 22 and 30, 2027.
