AFCON 2027 qualifiers - Nigeria can't stumble, Ghana absentee-hit, and Vieira's first test

For Africa's national teams, the first international break of the 2026-27 season represents far more than merely the opening qualifying exchanges for next year's Africa Cup of Nations.

Several of the continent's biggest nations find themselves at the start of a new cycle following the FIFA World Cup, while new head coaches will begin to stamp their identity on sides who, they hope, will be crowned African champions at Pamoja '27 in July.

Here are the big headlines, the talking points, and the subplots ahead of the international window.

Little margin for error

With three host nations, the AFCON qualifying campaign carries a little more jeopardy than usual for a trio of continental heavyweights.

The 48 teams have been drawn into 12 groups of four, with the top two advancing to the 24-team tournament. However, with Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania automatically qualifying as hosts, only the highest finishing team (other than this trio) will advance from their groups.

It means that only one out of South Africa and Guinea can reach the tournament, Tunisia have to contend with Libya and Botswana, while Nigeria face two potential threats in Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau, both of whom have qualified for the AFCON recently.

With only six matches in the campaign, there will be precious little margin for error and limited opportunity to bounce back after a sluggish start.

Pressure already mounting for Nigeria

Nigeria are perhaps the nation who can least afford to fail during the qualifying campaign.

The country's football appears to be in something of a sorry state, with failures at the Glass House contributing to missing out on the men's FIFA World Cup this year, the women's World Cup next year, and various underachievement at youth level.

Against this backdrop, the Super Eagles need to once again fly the flag for the West African powerhouse, with Eric Chelle charged with building on the promise his team showed as they reached the Nations Cup semis in Morocco.

Victor Osimhen's absence due to injury adds a slight complication, while a group containing Madagascar, Tanzania and Guinea-Bissau is made a little trickier with the fact that only one team advances to the tournament alongside the hosts.

Chelle could certainly do with a calm and encouraging start as Nigerian football embarks on perhaps the biggest reset of any of the teams mentioned here.

Renard goes back to the future with Ivory Coast

The most eye-catching reunion of the window will come in Bouake, where Herve Renard begins his second spell as Ivory Coast head coach against Ghana.

It's been over 11 years since the Frenchman took the Elephants to the 2015 AFCON title in Bata, and he returns to inherit a new generation of Ivorians, and a new dynamic within the national team following their run to the World Cup knockouts, and Nations Cup victory on home soil in 2024.

He's taking nothing for granted against the Black Stars, the team who, coincidentally, Renard's Elephants beat in the final in Equatorial Guinea all those years ago.

"Favourites, that belongs on paper," he told reporters on Wednesday. "Qualification is won on the pitch."

Cote d'Ivoire host Ghana on Thursday, before facing Somalia in Abidjan.

Queiroz's Ghana U-turn

If Renard's return was warmly received across the Ivory Coast, Carlos Queiroz's re-appointment as Black Stars head coach -- less than two months after their World Cup elimination -- was met with a far more muted reaction in Ghana.

Queiroz was only appointed in April, and did make the West Africans competitive in North America, as they drew with England and beat Panama to advance to the knockouts for the first time in 16 years.

However, a conservative and apparently unambitious approach didn't appeal to the entirety of the Black Stars fanbase, and there were few mourning when he appeared to have signalled his departure from the post after they exited in the Last 32 at the hands of Colombia.

Mohammed Kudus, Thomas Partey and retired Iñaki Williams are among several high-profile absentees from their squad, with Queiroz acknowledging there are 'holes in the boat'.

Will the veteran be tempted to attempt to cultivate a more adventurous style with Ghana's attacking quality?

Vieira debuts as manager with Senegal

Reeling from a chaotic World Cup of their own, Senegal parted ways with Pape Thiaw -- despite his success at the AFCON earlier this year -- and (belatedly) appointed World Cup winner Patrick Vieira in his stead.

It's surely the most fascinating appointment of this new African cycle, with Vieira's connection to Senegal - he was born in Dakar - offset somewhat by his unconvincing managerial track record across appointments in England, France and the United States.

"It's not about starting from zero," he said at his unveiling in the Senegalese capital. "It's about respecting what the Federation has put in place over recent years and, with that continuity, build a new stage and open a new chapter."

He's perhaps being generous, with the progress made under Aliou Cisse appearing to have been frittered away in recent months, with the World Cup riddled with controversies, tensions within the FA, and even the bizarre attempted scapegoating of the team doctor (previously qualified as a gynaecologist), as federation officials attempted to pass the buck after their capitulation against Belgium.

Vieira's appointment may distract from failings elsewhere, but is it really the wise move to help Senegal transition to a new era?

They face Mozambique and Ethiopia to begin their AFCON qualifying campaign.

Mosimane's second coming

Pitso Mosimane's previous permanent spell as South Africa head coach ended in disappointment when the team's failure to understand the rules contributed to them missing out on the 2012 AFCON, before a slow start to the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign eroded any residual optimism.

Since then, he focused on becoming perhaps the greatest African head coach of his generation, winning three CAF Champions League titles, overseeing a domestic dynasty with Mamelodi Sundowns, and winning domestic honours in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Now he returns to take the mantle from Hugo Broos, who broke new ground at the World Cup, and prove that his experience of such extensive successes can ensure he thrives where once he failed.

Can Bettencourt extend the Cape Verde miracle?

Cape Verde, who were arguably the outstanding story of the World Cup, are facing a different challenge to some of the other sides mentioned in this feature after long-serving Bubista departed to take up a position with Moroccan club side RS Berkane.

He's overseen an incredible ascent for the national side -- culminating in that remarkable knockout defeat by Argentina -- with the islanders climbing to 64th in the FIFA World Rankings in the process.

The federation have opted for a certain measure of continuity by appointing his long-serving assistant Humberto Bettencourt, who will now be charged with extending the momentum of those outstanding performances in North America.

Mali away in his opening game will be a genuine reality check, and the former minnows cannot count upon the element of surprise that once served them so well.

Algeria, Tunisia must avoid World Cup malaise

In North Africa, there's a sense that Algeria and Tunisia are embarking on significant rebuilds under Brahim Hemdani and Mounine Chaabani respectively.

Hemdani is in his first senior international coaching job, replacing the unpopular Vladimir Petkovic, and will be expected to get the most out of a rich national pool in a way that his restrained predecessor failed to do.

Houssem Amour and Hicham Boudaoui are among the high-profile omissions as Hemdani looks to shape the squad in his image, while Algeria are also entering new territory following the international retirement of Riyad Mahrez.

The new coach's mission statement should be music to the ears of Fennecs supporters: "We are going to propose a game plan that corresponds to the identity of the Algeria team; playing forward and taking the initiative."

Tunisia's rebuild must be even more pronounced than Algeria's after their disastrous World Cup in which they went through two managers -- including Renard -- and exited the tournament with zero points and a -10 goal difference.

Chaabani, who has experience in North African club football, must restore confidence and morale in a squad bereft of both, while establishing the kind of stability that has been utterly absent for the Carthage Eagles in recent years.

CAF's curious scheduling

The expanded September-October FIFA window theoretically reduces the amount of travel required by international players, although CAF's exploitation of the extra time during this break from club competition has left a lot to be desired.

Curiously, the competitive fixtures come at the beginning of the window -- with teams playing their opening qualifier over the coming days -- leaving several countries then either playing friendlies afterwards or twiddling their thumbs waiting to return to their clubs.

Why weren't the high-stakes competitive games scheduled to begin towards the end of the extended break, to give national sides ample preparation time -- and the opportunity to plan warm-up friendlies -- rather than kick off the AFCON qualifiers with such limited preparation time?

It will be yet more ammunition for CAF's critics, who already question whether their scheduling gives sufficient consideration to sporting preparation and player welfare