Spotlight on new coaches as road to Afcon 2027 begins

Qualifying for the 2027 Afcon finals in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda begins this week, with 48 teams playing two qualifying rounds in the current international window and two more in November before groups conclude in March; the top two from nine of 12 groups advance, though hosts' automatic qualification means only one extra spot is available in their groups. Attention centres on new coaches: Herve Renard has returned to Ivory Coast ahead of Thursday's opener against Carlos Queiroz's Ghana, while Patrick Vieira begins his reign as Senegal coach away to Mozambique and Ethiopia. Cape Verde, last year's World Cup surprise package, will be led by new coach Humberto Bettencourt following Bubista's resignation, starting away to Mali before hosting Rwanda.