An AFCON 2027 travel platform by Travel Ease
The Scorpions
Quarter-finalists on AFCON debut. The Gambia open qualifying against Somalia on 25 September 2026.
Road to AFCON 2027
Group C
The Gambia
Current status: Qualifying
The top two in the group qualify for the finals. Six matches: home and away against each opponent.
No qualifier has been played yet — the table appears here after the first matchday.
Checked 21 September 2026 against CAF’s draw and fixture list.CAF fixtures
The number that defines The Gambia
150th
The Gambia’s world ranking at AFCON 2021
The lowest of the 24 teams in Cameroon — and the debutants still reached the quarter-finals.
Iconic moment · 2019
Qualifier · Angola v The Gambia
On 13 November 2019, in their opening group game of qualifying for the 2021 finals, The Gambia won 3–1 in Angola, Assan Ceesay scoring twice in the first 20 minutes. By RSSSF’s records it was their first win away from home in an AFCON or World Cup qualifier.
2022
All of The Gambia’s AFCON 2021 goals
Jallow, Barrow and the four goals that took the debutants to the quarter-finals.
Official highlights from CAF TV, embedded from YouTube. Travel Ease hosts no footage and is not a CAF partner; the video loads only when you press play.
Ready for the next chapter?
Tell us where you are coming from and when you want to travel. We plan the trip around The Gambia’s matches as soon as CAF confirms where they play.
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The team now
Defender · Al-Fayha
The Scorpions’ captain, and scorer of the only goal against Mali in AFCON 2023 qualifying in March 2023.
Goalkeeper · Shkendija
Saved Seifeddine Jaziri’s penalty in the 1–0 win over Tunisia at AFCON 2021, and was in goal again at Côte d’Ivoire 2023.
Forward · Konyaspor
Scored at AFCON 2023, curling in The Gambia’s second goal against Cameroon for a 2–1 lead.
From the 25-man squad named on 17 September 2026 for Somalia (25 Sep, home, Independence Stadium) and Ghana (29 Sep, away) in AFCON 2027 qualifying. Clubs as at that announcement.
AFCON 2027 packages
Follow the Scorpions to East Africa. Each trip works from any host country, so it holds whichever group The Gambia land in.
Fan5 nightsAny host country
A short trip built around a single fixture
Match ticket not included · assistance on request
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Costed for your departure city
Supporter8 nightsAny host country
Two fixtures, one trip
Match ticket not included · assistance on request
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Costed for your departure city
Supporter14 nightsAny host country
Travel with your side through the rounds
Match ticket not included · assistance on request
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Costed for your departure city
Flights, hotels and match-day transport are quoted for your departure city — airlines and hotels have not released AFCON-period rates, so we price your exact trip rather than publish a guess.
Travelling from
Routing, journey time and entry requirements depend on your departure country.
Host countries
Explore the three host nations while we wait for The Gambia’s official finals journey to be determined.
Safari country and East Africa’s busiest gateway
Kenya combines the region’s most connected international airport with the Maasai Mara and the Kenyan coast, making it the natural base for supporters who want football and safari in one trip.
Plan my tripZanzibar, Serengeti and the Indian Ocean
Tanzania offers the strongest holiday extension of the three hosts — Zanzibar’s beaches and the northern safari circuit are both within easy reach of the mainland gateways.
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The source of the Nile and gorilla country
Uganda is the most compact of the three hosts, with Entebbe close to Kampala and adventure travel — rafting at Jinja, gorilla trekking in the southwest — within reach of a tournament trip.
Plan my tripTickets are issued only through CAF’s authorised official ticketing. Travel Ease is not a ticket seller — we help you follow official The Gambia ticket updates and build your journey around confirmed matches.
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SAFARI3 daysMaasai Mara
Kenya’s best-known reserve, reachable by light aircraft or road from Nairobi between match days.
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CITY1 dayNairobi
The national park on the city edge, the elephant orphanage and Karen — a full day without leaving Nairobi.
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BEACH4 daysZanzibar
The classic post-tournament wind-down: white sand, warm water and Stone Town, a short hop from Dar es Salaam.
Add to my tripThe story behind the shirt
The full story, the title years, the moments, the legends and every tournament — researched from CAF and dated where it can change.
The Gambia’s AFCON legacy
Until November 2019, The Gambia had never won a competitive qualifier away from home. The campaign that changed that began in the preliminary round, with a penalty shoot-out against Djibouti, and turned in Angola, where Assan Ceesay scored twice in a 3–1 win. By March 2021 the Scorpions had finished top of a qualifying group containing DR Congo, Gabon and Angola, and were going to their first Africa Cup of Nations.
Tom Saintfiet’s side arrived in Cameroon as the lowest-ranked team in the field and did not play like it. Ablie Jallow scored ten minutes into their first finals match, against Mauritania; Musa Barrow’s 90th-minute penalty drew the second with Mali; and against Tunisia, after Baboucarr Gaye had saved a first-half penalty, Jallow won it in stoppage time. Seven points and second place in Group F became a quarter-final place when Barrow’s goal beat Guinea. The hosts ended the run in Douala, Karl Toko Ekambi scoring twice early in the second half.
Tom Saintfiet’s side arrived in Cameroon as the lowest-ranked team in the field and did not play like it. Ablie Jallow scored ten minutes into their first finals match, against Mauritania; Musa Barrow’s 90th-minute penalty drew the second with Mali; and against Tunisia, after Baboucarr Gaye had saved a first-half penalty, Jallow won it in stoppage time. Seven points and second place in Group F became a quarter-final place when Barrow’s goal beat Guinea. The hosts ended the run in Douala, Karl Toko Ekambi scoring twice early in the second half.
Côte d’Ivoire 2023 was harder. Senegal won 3–0 and Guinea 1–0, and in the last group game Ebrima Colley put The Gambia 2–1 up against Cameroon with less than six minutes of normal time left — before an own goal and a stoppage-time header turned it into a 3–2 defeat. Saintfiet resigned minutes after the final whistle. Qualifying for Morocco 2025 finished with a 1–0 win in Tunisia, but Comoros and Tunisia took the group’s two places.
Johnathan McKinstry, appointed in June 2024, now takes the Scorpions into Group C with Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Somalia, where the top two qualify for the finals. Qualifying begins on 24 September 2026. The Gambia open at home to Somalia on 25 September — their first match at the renovated Independence Stadium in Bakau since 2021 — and travel to Ghana four days later.
Iconic moments
2022
Group F · Cameroon 2021, Limbe
Baboucarr Gaye saved Seifeddine Jaziri’s penalty before half-time, and Ablie Jallow’s shot in the third minute of stoppage time beat Tunisia 1–0. The debutants finished level on seven points with Mali, second in Group F only on goal difference.
2022
Round of 16 · Cameroon 2021
Musa Barrow’s second-half goal beat Guinea 1–0 in a tie that finished ten against ten, and The Gambia — the lowest-ranked of the 24 teams in Cameroon — were quarter-finalists on their first appearance. Hosts Cameroon ended the run with a 2–0 win in Douala.
2024
Group C · Côte d’Ivoire 2023
Ablie Jallow’s volley cancelled out Karl Toko Ekambi’s header, and Ebrima Colley’s curling finish put The Gambia 2–1 up against Cameroon with less than six minutes of normal time left. James Gomez then turned the ball into his own net and Christopher Wooh headed Cameroon’s winner a minute into stoppage time; a late Gambian equaliser was ruled out for handball.
AFCON legends
Head coach · AFCON 2021 and 2023
The coach who took The Gambia to their first two finals.
Led the 2021 debutants to the quarter-finals, then resigned minutes after the 3–2 defeat by Cameroon that ended the 2023 campaign.
Forward · AFCON 2021 and 2023
Scorer of The Gambia’s first goal at a finals.
Scored against Mauritania and Tunisia in 2022 and against Cameroon in 2024 — three of The Gambia’s six AFCON finals goals, more than any team-mate.
Forward · AFCON 2021 and 2023
The Gambia’s all-time leading scorer, and the man who took them into the quarter-finals.
Scored the 90th-minute penalty that drew the game with Mali and the only goal of the round-of-16 win over Guinea at Cameroon 2021.
Forward · 2018–2025
The goals behind the first successful qualifying campaign.
Scored twice in the 3–1 win in Angola in 2019 and the only goal of the return in Bakau in March 2021, then the winner in Tunisia in November 2024.
Statistics
Finals tournaments through Côte d’Ivoire 2023. Qualifiers not included.
The Gambia were the lowest-ranked team at both of their AFCON finals: 150th in the world at Cameroon 2021 and 126th at Côte d’Ivoire 2023.
Their road to a first AFCON began in the preliminary round, where they got past Djibouti on penalties in October 2019 after two 1–1 draws.
Three of The Gambia’s four goals at AFCON 2021 were 1–0 winners — against Mauritania, Tunisia and Guinea.
Both of The Gambia’s competitive wins over Tunisia finished 1–0: at AFCON 2021, and away in Tunisia in AFCON 2025 qualifying in November 2024.
The ‘Biris Norte’ stand at Sevilla’s Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán is named after Gambian forward Biri Biri, one of Africa’s earliest stars in European football.
Yes, twice. They made their debut at Cameroon 2021, played in January 2022, and reached the quarter-finals; at Côte d’Ivoire 2023 they went out in the group stage.
The quarter-finals at their first tournament, Cameroon 2021, where the hosts beat them 2–0 in Douala.
No. Comoros and Tunisia took the two places from their qualifying group, even though The Gambia won 1–0 in Tunisia in their final match.
Not yet. Qualifying begins on 24 September 2026. The Gambia are in Group C with Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Somalia, and the top two qualify.
They open at home to Somalia at the Independence Stadium in Bakau on 25 September 2026, then play Ghana away on 29 September.
Johnathan McKinstry from Northern Ireland, appointed in June 2024. He named a 25-man squad for the September 2026 qualifiers.
Sources · checked 21 September 2026
Historical figures cover AFCON finals tournaments only. Qualification, squads and rankings change — each is dated where it appears.
AFCON 2027
Travel to the Africa Cup of Nations in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda — arranged from anywhere in Africa and the diaspora.
Travel Ease Company is an independent travel agency. We are not an official CAF or AFCON partner, sponsor, supplier or ticketing agent, and we are not affiliated with the Confédération Africaine de Football.
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Fixtures and venues. Fixtures, host cities and qualification are determined and published by CAF. We show them only once officially confirmed.
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