Africa Cup of Nations returns to two-year cycle after CAF U-turn
The Africa Cup of Nations is going back to a tournament every two years. The Confederation of African Football (CAF), the body that runs football across the continent, has reversed its plan to hold the finals every four years, BBC Sport reports.
The tournament, known as AFCON, is one of the biggest events in African football. In December, CAF president Patrice Motsepe announced that from 2028 it would be played every four years, a change from the two-year gap the competition had kept. CAF had planned to fill the gap in between with an African Nations League, a new competition that would have been held every two years.
That plan has now changed too. CAF accepted that the Nations League would take several years to bring in enough money to pay its own way. Without that income, the idea of a regular league to replace the finals in the calendar looked uncertain.
By early October, the rethink was under way. On 9 October, Reuters reported that CAF was reviewing the four-year decision, and Motsepe said the body was looking at bringing AFCON back every two years. The review has now produced the U-turn.
The next tournament is the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Pamoja 2027. It will be played from 19 June to 17 July 2027 and jointly hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. That is roughly eight months from now, so fans and host cities will not have long to prepare.
Beyond 2027, the BBC lists future editions for 2028, 2031 and 2033. There will be no tournament in 2030, because that year the men's World Cup takes place. Those dates show how crowded the international calendar has become, with national teams competing for players and space on the schedule.
For supporters, the practical result is simple. The finals are coming back into a steady rhythm, and the next one is close. Whether the two-year pattern holds for the long term will depend on the dates that CAF confirms in the coming months.
