The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will move from its long-standing two-year cycle to a four-year format after the 2028 edition, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced.
CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, revealed the decision on Saturday in Rabat, Morocco, describing it as part of a broader effort to ease pressure on the increasingly congested global football calendar and better protect African players plying their trade abroad.
Under the new arrangement, AFCON will still be staged in 2027, jointly hosted by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, followed by another edition in 2028. From that point onward, the continent’s biggest football tournament will take place once every four years.
Motsepe explained that while hosting AFCON every two years has traditionally been a key source of income for African football federations, CAF plans to offset that by introducing an annual African Nations League similar to Europe’s UEFA Nations League which is expected to generate more revenue and competitiveness.
“Our focus right now is this AFCON,” Motsepe said. “In 2027, we’ll be in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, and the next one will be in 2028. After that, AFCON will be played every four years.”
He added that CAF would soon open a bidding process for countries interested in hosting the 2028 tournament.
According to Motsepe, the first edition of the African Nations League will be launched after the FIFA Club World Cup in 2029, offering higher prize money, more resources and more competitive matches across the continent.
AFCON has been held every two years since its first edition in 1957, but scheduling challenges have intensified in recent years. Conflicts with European club competitions, the rainy season in some host countries, the expanded FIFA Club World Cup and the restructured UEFA Champions League have all complicated planning.
Recent tournaments have swung between mid-year and early-year schedules. While the 2019 AFCON in Egypt was held in June and July to accommodate European clubs, the 2022 and 2024 editions in Cameroon and Ivory Coast returned to January and February due to weather concerns. Going forward, CAF plans to stage the tournament from December into the New Year, when some European leagues take a break, though England’s Premier League remains an exception.
Motsepe said the changes were designed to create better harmony between African and global football.
“Our first responsibility is African football,” he noted, “but we also have a duty to African players playing for top clubs in Europe. We want a calendar that allows the best African players to return home regularly and compete.”
He disclosed that the new Nations League would begin as a regional competition, with 16 teams each from East, West and Central-Southern Africa, and six teams from North Africa. Matches will be played in September and October, with regional winners advancing to a final tournament in November at a single venue.
In a further boost for the competition, Motsepe announced that prize money for the ongoing AFCON in Morocco has been increased, with the eventual champions set to receive $10 million — up from the $7 million awarded to the winners of the 2024 tournament in Ivory Coast.
The sweeping reforms mark one of the most significant changes in the history of African football and signal CAF’s intent to modernise its competitions while keeping pace with global demands.
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