Monday, December 22, 2025 - The Confederation of African Football has confirmed that the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will be held once every four years after the 2028 edition, as opposed to its long-standing two-year cycle.
CAF president Patrice Motsepe revealed the change as part of
a significant restructuring of the international game on the continent to help
it fit better into a packed global calendar.
An AFCON every two years was a vital source of revenue for
African national associations, but Motsepe said the introduction of an annual
African Nations League competition, similar to the UEFA Nations League, would
now help boost coffers instead.
“Our focus now is on this AFCON, but in 2027 we will be
going to Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, and the AFCON after that will be in
2028,” Motsepe told reporters in Rabat on Saturday, on the eve of the opening
game of this year’s Morocco-hosted Cup of Nations.
“Then after the FIFA Club World Cup in 2029 we will have the
first African Nations League… with more prize money, more resources, and more
competition.
“As part of this arrangement, the AFCON now will take place
once every four years.”
The Cup of Nations has usually been held at two-year
intervals since the very first edition in 1957, but over the last 15 years it
has struggled to find a convenient place in the global calendar.
This year’s tournament in Morocco will be the eighth to be
held, going back to the 2012 edition in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
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