Egypt goalkeeping great Nader El Sayed and former Côte d'Ivoire defender Abdoulaye Meité have been confirmed as Draw Assistants for the TotalEnergies CAF Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations Egypt 2027 Qualifiers Draw, held in Cairo on Tuesday.

The ceremony takes place at 15h00 Cairo time (12h00 GMT) and will be broadcast live on CAF TV.

Two legends, one draw

El Sayed is among Egypt's most celebrated former goalkeepers. He earned more than 100 caps for the Pharaohs — having first represented his country at Under-17 and Under-20 level — and was the undisputed first-choice keeper when Egypt claimed the CAF Africa Cup of Nations title in Burkina Faso in 1998. His club career took him to Zamalek, Club Brugge, Al Masry, and briefly Al Ahly.

Meité was a central figure in a golden generation of Côte d'Ivoire footballers. The Elephants defender featured at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and was part of the squad that reached the final of the 2006 CAF Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, where Côte d'Ivoire fell to the hosts in a penalty shootout. He went on to represent Olympique Marseille, Bolton Wanderers, and West Bromwich Albion at club level.

The road to Egypt 2027

A total of 43 nations are competing for places at the TotalEnergies CAF Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations Egypt 2027. As hosts, Egypt have already secured automatic qualification for the eight-team finals.

The remaining 42 sides will battle through three rounds of home-and-away qualifying ties for the seven remaining spots. The First Round will feature 28 nations, while 14 teams — exempted based on their performances across the previous three editions of the competition — will enter at the Second Round. The seven winners of the Third Round will join Egypt at the finals.

The 43 competing nations are: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, DR Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.