Excitement is building across East and Central Africa as the stage is officially set for the 2027 TotalEnergies CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) CECAFA zonal qualifiers, with tournament hosts Rwanda landing in an intriguing group following the official draw held at the Azam TV studios in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Conducted by CECAFA Competitions Manager Yusuf Mossi alongside Tanzania’s Ladaki Chasambi—who famously claimed the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award at the 2018 U-17 AFCON qualifiers—the draw has successfully mapped out a competitive path for the region’s top youth national teams.
Hosts Rwanda find themselves positioned in Group A, where they will lock horns with Sudan, Somalia, and South Sudan, giving the young Rwandan side home-ground advantage alongside a rigorous test against formidable regional opponents eager to secure continental representation. Meanwhile, Group B brings together regional powerhouses Uganda, who will battle it out against Ethiopia and Burundi, while over in Group C, reigning champions Tanzania headline the pool alongside Djibouti and Kenya, setting up what promises to be a fiercely contested series of group matches.
The high-stakes Zonal qualifier tournament is scheduled to run from October 10th to October 19th, 2026, in Rwanda’s capital city of Kigali, with matches hosted across two primary venues: the iconic Kigali Pele Stadium and the FERWAFA Technical Centre playground. According to the tournament format outlined by CECAFA, competition for the qualification slots will be intense, seeing the top-ranked team in each group automatically advance to the semi-final stage. These group winners will then be joined in the semis by the best second-placed team across all three groups.
Ultimately, the battle boils down to securing a ticket to the grand continental showpiece as the two finalists, alongside the winner of the third-place playoff match, earn the right to represent the CECAFA zone at the 2027 TotalEnergies CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.
