AFCON 2025: CAF reveals date for men’s football tournament
The Confederation of African Football (CAF), after a virtual meeting held by its executive committee on Friday, revealed the much-anticipated date for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), slated to be held in Morocco.
The AFCON 2025, which will be the 35th edition of the prestigious continental football tournament, will commence on December 21, 2025, and end on January 18, 2026.
This marks the second time the tournament will be held in Morocco, having previously been held in the North African nation in 1988, and the first time it will be held in December and also run into a new year.
The competition, which was initially discussed to be held in the summer of 2025, has now been postponed by about six months, with CAF citing fixture congestion and scheduling problems as its reasons due to the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup, which will begin on June 15, 2025.
The draws for AFCON 2025 qualifiers will take place on Thursday, July 4, in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the qualifying matches set to run from September to November 2024.
48 nations, including the four winners from the preliminary round (Chad, Eswatini, Liberia, and South Sudan), will be drawn into 12 groups of four teams to determine the 24 teams that will participate in the finals.
Cote d’Ivoire are the defending champions of the AFCON after beating Nigeria’s Super Eagles 2-1 in the final of the AFCON 2023 at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpé.
