AFCON 2027: Djibouti and Chad announce preliminary squads

Only two months after the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finished up in Morocco, qualifying will begin next week with the preliminary round for the 2027 edition set to be hosted by East African nations Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

The CAF TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Pamoja 2027 preliminary round draw is here.👇

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— CAF Online (@CAF_Online) January 13, 2026

Africa’s minnows are among the preliminary stage along with more established national teams who have seen their rankings fall in an increasingly competitive scene.

Announcements of the player lists are slowly coming in with two more participants confirming their preliminary selections. Ethiopia announced their final list through newly-hired head coach Yohannes Sahle and two more teams joined the Waliyas in revealing their lists over the weekend.

Another nation from the Horn of Africa, Djibouti, will feature their top players including foreign-based players.

North Macedonia-based midfielder Hassan Warsama is in the camp along with with naturalized West African forwards, Nigeria’s Samuel Temidayo Akinbinu and Ghana-born Gabriel Dadzie. Djibouti will face South Sudan in their preliminary round clash.

Warsama, who grew up in Belgium and represented the European country at youth level, will lead the team after making thirteen appearances with club Brera Strumica in North Macedonia’s top flight 1. MFL. The versatile defender and midfielder played an important role during Djibouti’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.

Dadzie and Akinbinu enjoyed prolific spells in Djiboutian domestic football before moving abroad recently. Dadzie plays for Libyan Premier League club Al Tersana while Akinbinu recently moved to Kenya Commercial Bank where he has made a handful of appearances over the last month.

Chad coach Raoul Savoy is proceeding with preparations despite reports that the Swiss tactician has not been paid since signing on to lead Les Sao in August last year. The Central African nation will clash with one of the top participants in the preliminary stage, Burundi, who have yet to announce their list.

 

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Over the past week, Savoy has been working with a group of players based exclusively in the country’s domestic league. It is expected that Savoy will call in some of the nation’s foreign-based stars, of which there is a large group who play their club football throughout Africa as well as Europe and Asia.

 

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With a week still left before the first legs take place, the majority of the participants have not announced preliminary or final rosters with the exception of Ethiopia. Stay tuned for more news with the first legs set to begin on March 25.

Who are the favorites to advance from AFCON 2027 preliminary round?

It is difficult to see which teams are likely to advance, considering it is unknown if all the teams will bring in players based abroad. Ethiopia and Burundi are the more established football nations in the group but Chad could provide a stiff challenge to the Burundian team if their foreign-based players are brought in such as Turkish-based forward Marius Mouandilmandji.

Island nations Seychelles and Mauritius are considered the true minnows and will have modest expectations. However, Mauritius have become more capable with the recruitment of dual national players while Seychelles are composed almost entirely of amateur players.

Lesotho and Eswatini tend to bring a certain standard that is usually strong enough for the small Southern African nations to advance beyond this stage. The Djibouti-South Sudan clash could go in any direction while São Tomé and Príncipe have become more capable in recent times due to their recruitment of European-based dual nationals.

The arrival of players like Ronaldo Lumungo, from Portuguese second tier club Paços de Ferreira, was a development that helped São Tomé and Príncipe earn their first victory in over three years back in October when Lumungo scored a penalty kick in a 1-0 2026 World Cup qualifying victory over Malawi.