Where to Watch AFCON 2027 in Dar es Salaam
Tanzania co-hosts AFCON from 19 June to 17 July 2027, with matches at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium. Where to watch in Dar without a ticket, how to reach the stadium, and what is confirmed so far.
Dar es Salaam6 min readUpdated 16 September 2026
For the first time since 1976, the Africa Cup of Nations is coming back to East Africa, and Tanzania is one of the three countries hosting it. From 19 June to 17 July 2027, twenty-four teams play across ten stadiums in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. It is the first AFCON ever staged by three countries, and the last one to be held in an odd-numbered year.
Dar es Salaam will have matches, visiting supporters from across the continent, and several weeks of a city that mostly stops to watch football. Here is what is actually confirmed, and where to watch if you are not at the ground.
What is confirmed
- Dates
- 19 June – 17 July 2027
- Hosts
- Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda
- Teams
- 24
- Dar Venue
- Benjamin Mkapa Stadium
The tournament is officially the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations PAMOJA 2027. Pamoja is Swahili for "together", which is the point of a three-country tournament.
The opening match is on Saturday 19 June and the final on Saturday 17 July. CAF has not yet said which country will host either of them. The Mkapa Stadium is the largest venue in the tournament at 60,000 seats, which has led to plenty of speculation about the final being played in Dar, but nothing has been announced.
Tanzania's venues are the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam, the new Samia Suluhu Hassan Stadium in Arusha, and Amaan and Fumba in Zanzibar. Kenya plays in Nairobi, Uganda in Kampala and Hoima.
Tanzania are already in
Taifa Stars qualified automatically as co-hosts, along with Kenya and Uganda. They are still playing qualifiers, in Group L alongside Nigeria, Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau, but the results cannot cost them a place at the finals.
The qualifying campaign runs across three windows: matchdays 1 and 2 from 21 September to 6 October 2026, matchdays 3 and 4 from 9 to 17 November 2026, and the last two in March 2027. Tanzania's first two are Tanzania v Guinea-Bissau on 25 September 2026 and Madagascar v Tanzania on 29 September 2026, both kicking off at 4pm local time.
A word on fixture lists. Several sites already publish "AFCON 2027 groups" and ticket prices. The finals draw has not happened and CAF has not confirmed prices, so those pages are guessing. This guide will be updated when the draw is made.
Watching in Dar without a ticket
A stadium holds 60,000 people. A city of some seven million watches everywhere else, and in practice that is the better experience: an ocean breeze, food arriving, and a whole room reacting at once.
Midtown, Masaki
- Area
- Masaki
- Type
- Rooftop restaurant and lounge
- Kitchen
- Jamaican and Swahili
- Happy Hour
- Mon–Thu, 3–7pm
Full disclosure, this is us. Midtown is on the roof of Magesa Ocean View Apartments in Masaki, open to the air on all four sides. The kitchen runs Jamaican and Swahili together, jerk chicken and escovitch fish next to mishkaki, and the cocktails lean rum. Happy hour is Monday to Thursday, 3:00 to 7:00pm, with signature cocktails at TSH 10,000.
We show the matches. So the useful thing is that you can eat properly and watch the game at the same table, on a roof in the evening air, rather than queueing at a stadium kiosk. Book ahead on match nights, because Masaki fills up, and Tanzania games will go first.
George & Dragon
- Area
- Masaki / Oyster Bay
- Type
- British pub
- Best
- Big matches with a crowd
A long-running British pub with a separate sports room, one big screen and a wall of smaller ones, plus pub food of the fish and chips and burgers sort. It is the default in Dar for a match you want to watch loudly and in company. Expect it to be full for anything involving Tanzania, Nigeria or a final.
The Slow Leopard
- Area
- Masaki
- Type
- Sports bar and grill
- Best
- Relaxed group watching
Open since 2014, with a large HD screen, several smaller monitors, burgers and reasonably priced beer, and a garden that makes it the more relaxed option. Good if you want to watch the football without shouting over anyone.
Samaki Samaki
- Area
- Masaki
- Type
- Seafood bar and grill
- Best
- Dinner plus a match
The Masaki seafood standby, with an outdoor bar, a grill built around the day's catch and regular live music. Worth calling ahead to check what they are showing.
Level 8, city centre
- Area
- City centre
- Type
- Hotel rooftop bar
- Floor
- 8th
- Best
- If you are staying downtown
An eighth-floor hotel rooftop, and the most convenient option for anyone based in the city centre rather than out on the peninsula, with a view over the centre toward the harbour.
Getting to the stadium
- Stadium
- Benjamin Mkapa
- Area
- Miburani, Temeke
- Capacity
- 60,000
- From_Masaki
- About 15km
The Mkapa Stadium sits in Temeke, roughly 6km south of the city centre and about 15km from Masaki and Msasani. On a normal day that is half an hour. On a match day, with 60,000 people arriving at once, it is not.
- Use Bolt or Uber. Both work across the city, and they remove the haggling.
- Book your ride home before the match ends, or you will be competing with a stadium's worth of people for the same cars.
- Leave far earlier than you think. Roads into Temeke are the pinch point, and the city is still rebuilding several of them for the tournament.
- Do not walk around Temeke late at night, particularly carrying a phone and a camera.
The stadium closed in April 2026 for six months of renovation covering the pitch, the VVIP areas, dressing rooms, media facilities and spectator amenities. CAF inspected the city's stadium, medical, transport, accommodation and security arrangements over three days at the start of September 2026.
If you are coming from abroad
- Book accommodation early. The shortage of hotel rooms is the city's recognised problem for 2027, and new building will not solve all of it in time. Masaki and the Msasani peninsula are the obvious base: good food, safe to walk in the evening, and a straight run south to the stadium.
- Tickets only from official channels. CAF sells through
tickets.cafonline.com. Prices had not been announced as of September 2026. - Sort the practicalities on arrival. Visa, SIM card and money are all covered in our arrival guide.
- There is a country attached to the football. The islands off the peninsula, Zanzibar and the national parks are all reachable in a day or two between matches. See things to do in Dar es Salaam and the Zanzibar day trip.
What we still do not know
This guide will be updated as CAF confirms each of these:
- Which country hosts the opening match and the final
- The finals draw, and which teams play in Dar es Salaam
- Ticket prices and the on-sale date
- Official fan zone locations
Finish The Day On The Roof
Sunset seating in Masaki, Jamaican and Swahili cooking, and the last of the light over the city. Message or call to book.
Common questions
- When is AFCON 2027 and where is it being held?
- From Saturday 19 June to Saturday 17 July 2027, co-hosted by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. It is the first Africa Cup of Nations staged by three countries and the first in East Africa since 1976. Twenty-four teams play across ten stadiums in seven host cities. In Tanzania the venues are the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam, the Samia Suluhu Hassan Stadium in Arusha, and Amaan and Fumba stadiums in Zanzibar.
- Which matches will be played in Dar es Salaam?
- Not known yet. The teams are decided by the qualifiers, which run until March 2027, and the finals draw has not been held. CAF also has not announced which of the three host countries will stage the opening match or the final. Treat any fixture list you see online before the draw as guesswork.
- Do I need a ticket to enjoy AFCON in Dar es Salaam?
- No. Most of the city will watch in bars, restaurants and fan zones rather than at the ground, which is how AFCON is normally experienced in a host city. Masaki and the Msasani peninsula have several venues with proper screens, and an evening kick-off there means you can eat by the ocean and watch the match in the same place.
- How do you get to the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium from Masaki?
- The stadium is in Miburani, Temeke, about 6km south of the city centre and roughly 15km from Masaki, so allow a long ride in match traffic. Use Bolt or Uber rather than flagging a car, leave much earlier than feels necessary, and arrange your ride home before the final whistle rather than after it.
- When do AFCON 2027 tickets go on sale?
- CAF had not confirmed prices or an on-sale date as of September 2026. Sales are expected through the official CAF ticketing site at tickets.cafonline.com, usually with a sponsor pre-sale before general sale. Any price list published before CAF's own announcement is an estimate, so buy only through official channels.
