Nigeria have been handed a challenging route to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations after the Super Eagles were drawn alongside Tanzania, Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau in Group L of the qualifying series, Footynaija reports.
The draw ceremony, held on Tuesday in Cairo, kept Nigeria away from fierce regional rivals Ghana after both countries were placed in different seeding pots.
Although avoiding Ghana removed one obvious heavyweight obstacle, the Super Eagles still emerged with what could be considered one of the most uncomfortable groups in the qualifiers.
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Tanzania’s inclusion has added extra pressure because the East African nation will co-host the 2027 tournament alongside Kenya and Uganda. Despite already qualifying automatically for the finals, Tanzania will still take part in the qualifying competition.
That arrangement leaves only one available qualification place in Group L, meaning Nigeria cannot rely on finishing second. Eric Chelle’s men will almost certainly need to top the group to guarantee their place at the finals.
The draw also revived memories of previous struggles against the same group opponents. Madagascar stunned Nigeria with a 2-0 victory at the 2019 AFCON in Egypt, while Guinea-Bissau famously defeated the Super Eagles in Abuja during the 2023 qualifying campaign before Nigeria responded with victory in the reverse fixture. Tanzania also gave Nigeria a difficult evening during the 2025 AFCON group stage in Morocco, where Ademola Lookman scored the decisive goal in a narrow 2-1 win.
Despite those warning signs, Nigeria enter the campaign with a strong qualifying pedigree. The Super Eagles have reached each of the last four AFCON tournaments and have consistently finished top of their groups.
They qualified for the 2025 edition with two matches remaining and recorded a historic 10-0 victory over São Tomé and Príncipe during the 2023 qualifiers.
The qualifying campaign will begin in September 2026, with the final round of matches scheduled for March 2027.
