The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has named four former internationals as draw assistants for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification draw.
Max-Alain Gradel of Côte d’Ivoire, William Troost-Ekong of Nigeria, Essam El Hadary of Egypt, and Trésor Mputu of DR Congo will conduct the ceremony in Cairo on Tuesday, 19 May. The event will be held at the Egyptian Football Association headquarters from 15:00 local time, 12:00 GMT, and broadcast live on CAF TV and social media platforms. CAF announced the appointments to bring experience and leadership to the draw process.
The draw will determine the qualifying groups for the 36th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, branded PAMOJA 2027. A total of 48 teams will be split into 12 groups of four. The top two teams from each group will advance to the finals. Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania are co-hosts of the tournament and have automatic qualification, but will still participate in the qualifiers. One additional team will qualify from each of their groups.
The 2027 AFCON finals are scheduled to run from 19 June to 17 July 2027. This marks the first time three nations will co-host the competition and the first time the tournament returns to East Africa in 51 years, since Ethiopia hosted in 1976. The four draw assistants each have significant AFCON history: Gradel won titles with Ivory Coast in 2015 and 2023, Troost-Ekong was Player of the Tournament in 2023, El Hadary claimed four AFCON titles with Egypt, and Mputu led TP Mazembe to continental club titles.