By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced the pots for the preliminary round of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers ahead of the draw scheduled for Tuesday.
CAF confirmed that the draw will officially kick off the qualification process for the tournament, with 12 nations set to battle for six available places in the group stage.
The teams have been divided into two pots.
Pot 1: Lesotho, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eswatini, South Sudan, Mauritius
Pot 2: Chad, São Tomé and Príncipe, Djibouti, Somalia, Seychelles, Eritrea
Each fixture will be decided over two legs, with teams in Pot 2 hosting the first leg, according to CAF’s guidelines.
The six winners from the preliminary ties will advance to the group stage of the AFCON 2027 qualifiers, where they will join Africa’s top 42-ranked teams in the race for a place at the continent’s flagship football competition.
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