Morocco’s midfielder #11 Ismael Saibari (R) fights for the ball with South Africa’s midfielder #4 Teboho Mokoena (C) during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2024 round of 16 football match between Morocco and South Africa at the Stade Laurent Pokou in San Pedro on January 30, 2024. Image SIA KAMBOU / AFP
AFCON 2025: Who will host and when does it take place?
Find out exactly when and where the next Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) will take place after the latest updates from Caf insiders.
Morocco’s midfielder #11 Ismael Saibari (R) fights for the ball with South Africa’s midfielder #4 Teboho Mokoena (C) during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2024 round of 16 football match between Morocco and South Africa at the Stade Laurent Pokou in San Pedro on January 30, 2024. Image SIA KAMBOU / AFP
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has reached a basic agreement for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations to take place in Morocco in July and August of that year.
CAF president Patrice Motsepe remains non-committal when pressed on the timing for the next tournament.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is set to host the 35th edition of the biannual African football competition known as the Africa Cup of Nations, or AFCON 2025 or CAN 2025. It is slated to go down in July 2025 at the moment.
Africa Cup of Nations to move into traditional off-season window from 2025
The set of circumstances could wind up being a great boon for Afcon, which has been at the heart of rifts between players and their national teams over some clubs reluctance to let players go in January.
With the expected timing being for a 2024 tournament Caf found they had more issues. Scheduling it for June and July in 2024 would conflict with FIFA’s enlarged Club World Cup, which is scheduled to be staged in North America.
Afcon agreement over Morocco 2025
There is reportedly “an agreement in principle between CAF and the Moroccan Football Federation for the AFCON to be held during the summer, more precisely in July and August” of 2025, a competitions committee member told AFP this week while speaking on the condition of anonymity.
“This agreement was found with the support of FIFA after talks that began several months ago and which intensified during the last edition which finished this month in Ivory Coast,” the source added.
“The dates currently proposed are July 20-August 16 or 17, 2025.”
In July and August of 2025, Morocco will host it for the second time, and the first time since 1988.
Originally slated to host the 2015 edition, Morocco withdrew owing to concerns around the Ebola virus outbreak in Western Africa. That year’s Club World Cup competition will take place one month later than planned since FIFA expanded the championship to 32 teams and set it for June and July of 2025.
The tournament is slated to take place in the summer of the northern hemisphere for a second time after 2019 in order to minimise scheduling problems with European club teams and events.
Pushed from pillar to post
The dates of the last two Africa Cup of Nations were both rescheduled. The Cameroonian-hosted 2021 competition took place in January and February of 2022. The most recent event was postponed due to weather concerns, originally slated for June and July of last year.
The first round of Afcon qualifying is scheduled for next month.
Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania will all share hosting duties at the 2027 Cup of Nations.
