Africa’s Football Governing Body, The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Wednesday that the next Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals will be postponed by six months to early 2026.
The tournament scheduled for June 2025 in Morocco clashed with the newly expanded 32-team Club World Cup, set to take place in the U.S. from June 15th to July 13th, 2025. Africa is set to have four teams participating in the Club World Cup, many of whose players would also be competing in the AFCON, prompting the scheduling conflict. Despite multiple inquiries about the clash, CAF delayed providing a resolution until its general secretary, Veron Mosengo-Omba, confirmed that the AFCON finals would be moved to early 2026.
This postponement is a significant setback for Morocco, which had hoped to use the summer tournament to showcase its growing tourism industry and demonstrate its capability to host major events ahead of the 2030 World Cup, which it will co-host with Portugal and Spain.
Mosengo-Omba emphasized the challenges of scheduling, noting, “We can play after the Club World Cup, but is this good for the interests of the players who have played all season and then travel to America to play and then immediately come to play AFCON?” He added, “Scheduling is a nightmare for everybody.”
CAF has also faced criticism for its failure to set dates for this year’s women’s Africa Cup of Nations finals, also to be held in Morocco. Further uncertainty surrounds the second edition of the African Football League, the continent’s new super league launched last year. The inaugural competition saw eight selected clubs compete for record prize money in a knockout format over two months.
Although CAF President, Patrice Motsepe promised the next edition would feature 24 teams, CAF recently announced that the group stages for the next season’s African Champions League and Confederation Cup will take place from October to December—overlapping with the period previously allocated to the African Football League.
