By Teddy Nwanunobi
The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualification group stage has revealed an incredibly explosive, highly attacking, and competitive start to the campaign.
No fewer than a total of 63 goals were scored from 24 games across Matchday 1 between last Thursday (September 24) and Saturday (September 26).
Daily NewsCraft reports that 48 African nations, including the co-hosts (Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania), split into 12 groups of four, are participating in the qualifiers. The co-hosts have automatically qualified for the tournament, which will start from June 19 to July 17, 2027.
In standard groups, the top two teams will advance. In groups (D, H, and L) containing the co-hosts (Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania), only the host and the highest-ranked team outside the host country will progress.
Out of the 24 games that were played across Matchday 1, there were 18 wins and six draws.
In their Group L opening game, the Super Eagles of Nigeria came from a goal down to beat the Barea of Madagascar 2-1 on Friday, at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Ehsan Kari gave Madagascar a shock lead in the 16th minute, with a header. Debutants, George Ilenikhena and Moses Usor, equalised for Nigeria just before halftime in added time and scored the winning goal in the 67th minute via a brilliant solo effort, respectively, to seal the 2–1 comeback win for the Super Eagles.
Earlier at the Amaan Stadium, one of the co-hosts, Tanzania, lost at home, as Guinea-Bissau picked up a major away victory with 2-0.
In the absence of striker Victor Osimhen, who is still ruled out of the fixture due to a groin injury, Taiwo Awoniyi is expected to lead the attack, as the Super Eagles seek to put themselves in a commanding position with an away win against Madagascar tomorrow (Tuesday).
The 63 goals, which average 2.625 goals per game, provides the following clear tactical picture of the current state of African football:
1. High directness and aggressive tacticians (Historically, AFCON qualifiers can lean toward conservative, low-scoring physical battles, especially during away fixtures where teams prioritize clean sheets. An average of 2.63 goals per game right out of the gate proves that modern African managers are deploying highly proactive, attacking setups.)
2. A great mix of blowouts and thrillers (To reach 63 goals in 24 games, Matchday 1 relied on a perfect balance of elite clinical finishing, and dramatic edge-of-your-seat matches:
* High-scoring thrillers: Matches like Zimbabwe’s stunning 3-2 comeback over Sierra Leone, and 3-1 victories from heavyweights like Algeria (over Zambia), Mali (over Cape Verde), and Cameroon (over Comoros) heavily drove up the goal count.
* The tactically tight exceptions: The average stayed grounded and elite because a few continental tactical powerhouses still locked things down, such as Egypt and Angola grinding out a tactical 0-0 stalemate.
3. Rapid convergence of technical quality (With 48 teams competing, the ‘smaller’ footballing nations are no longer just sitting back to defend deep. Teams like Madagascar (scoring first against Nigeria before falling 2-1) and Eritrea (holding Kenya to a 1-1 draw) proved that tactical organisation and clinical counter-attacks are present across the entire continent, ensuring that games are high-scoring but still incredibly tight.)
Complete results from Matchday 1:
Group A: Morocco 2–0 Gabon and Niger 2-1 Lesotho; Group B: Malawi 2-1 South Sudan and Egypt 0–0 Angola; Group C: Côte d’Ivoire 2-0 Ghana and The Gambia 2-1 Somalia; Group D: South Africa 2-1 Guinea and Kenya 1-1 Eritrea; Group E: DR Congo 2-0 Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone 2-3 Zimbabwe; and Group F: Mauritania 3-1 Central African Republic and Burkina Faso 1–1 Benin.
Others are: Group G: Cameroon 3-1 Comoros and Namibia 1-0 Congo; Group H: Libya 2-2 Botswana and Tunisia 1-1 Uganda; Group I: Algeria 3–1 Zambia and Togo 1–0 Burundi; Group J: Sudan 1-0 Ethiopia and Mozambique 1–1 Senegal; Group K: Rwanda 3-1 Liberia and Mali 3–1 Cape Verde; and Group L: Tanzania 0-2 Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria 2-1 Madagascar.
Daily NewsCraft reports that the format of the qualifiers require each of the four teams in each group to play home-and-away fixtures across six matchdays.
The schedule for Matchdays 1 and 2 will run from September 24 to October 6, 2026; Matchdays 3 and 4 will take place in November 2026; the final rounds will be concluded in March 2027.