The opening match will be played on Saturday, June 19th, and the final on Saturday, July 17th, as per the dates approved by the FIFA Council at its recent meeting in Vancouver, Canada.
CAF will announce the country that will host the opening match and the final in due course. The AFCON PAMOJA 2027 is the first to be hosted by three countries, presenting a unique opportunity for CAF and African football to reach over 400 million people in the East African region.
The 2027 AFCON will come after Morocco hosted the 2025 edition, which was widely praised as one of the best-organised in history.
The tournament featured 87 goals in the group stage, with Morocco topping Group A and reaching the final, where they were controversially awarded the win over Senegal despite losing to them in Rabat. The 2025 tournament broke records with over 120 goals scored, exceeding the previous record of 119 set in 2023.
Matches were played across nine modern venues, with the competition widely regarded for its exceptional organisational standards. The edition made history as the most-viewed ever online, racking up an incredible 6.1 billion digital views.
Confederation of African Football (CAF) later reported the numbers underlined the tournament’s growing global influence and the unmatched passion of African football fans.
“One of the biggest areas of growth for CAF and the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 has been with the Diaspora community where CAF has attracted millions of new audiences and users,” read part of the statement.
East Africa will deliver a unique AFCON
East Africa have been handed the task to surpass what Morocco achieved, but according to Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Hussein Mohammed, the PAMOJA co-host will not intend to compete with the North African nation.
“I have no doubt East Africa is ready and will deliver the best AFCON the continent and the world has ever seen,” embattled FKF boss Mohammed said as quoted by Pulse Sports during a meeting with CAF president Patrice Motsepe.
Motsepe is currently in Nairobi to attend the Africa Forward Summit and inspect preparations for the PAMOJA 2027 AFCON, which Kenya is co-hosting.
“We do not intend to compete with Morocco as the Minister has alluded to. We are unique in East Africa and we will deliver a unique AFCON that has never been seen,” added Mohammed.
“In this regard, it is not just the hardware, being the facilities and stadiums but also the software. East Africa is known for its hospitality, we are known to be a hardworking population and we are known for delivering quality and we experienced that with CHAN.”
Motsepe praises 2027 AFCON progress
In a significant address during the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi on May 11, Motsepe officially reaffirmed that Kenya will host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Motsepe praised the progress made by the East African nations, noting Kenya recently secured its status by finalising the necessary hosting fees and accelerating infrastructure projects.
During his visit to Nairobi, the CAF President is also meeting with local officials to inspect the development of key venues, including the Talanta Sports Stadium and the Moi International Sports Centre (Kasarani).
“Kenya is amongst the three nations that will host next year’s AFCON... the biggest sporting event on African soil,” said Motsepe.
FKF boss Mohammed added: “Motsepe commended the significant progress made by the three host nations and expressed confidence that Pamoja AFCON 2027 will be a resounding success.
“The host nations reaffirmed their commitment to sustained collaboration to ensure full readiness and to deliver the most successful AFCON in the competition’s history.”
Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Salim Mvurya, said on the meeting with the CAF supremo: “It was my distinct honour to host the President of CAF Motsepe, alongside fellow PAMOJA Ministers of Sports and Presidents of the Pamoja Federations, as we advanced strategic consultations on the joint hosting preparations for the 2027 AFCON.
“We jointly assessed the operational grounding framework that will provide direction towards the establishment of critical hosting structures, harmonised government policies, coordination mechanisms, and sustainable financial frameworks necessary for the successful delivery of the continental tournament.
“The meeting builds on the resolutions of the Kampala Kick-off Meeting, where the PAMOJA countries laid out the roadmap and implementation matrix for our respective country’s preparations.
“We warmly welcomed Motsepe’s continued confidence in the PAMOJA bid and East Africa’s collective capability to rewrite history by successfully staging one of the most iconic football tournaments on the continent.”
The 2027 AFCON edition is part of the Africa Cup of Nations' 70th anniversary, and will be the last one to be held in odd-numbered years, as CAF announced in December 2025 it would become a quadrennial tournament from 2028 onwards.