The Africa Cup of Nations will be held every four years from 2028, Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe announced on the eve of the 2025 tournament in Morocco.
AFCON has been a biennial competition, taking place every two years since its inception in 1968, except for the one-year gap between the 2012 edition hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon and the 2013 tournament in South Africa.
Notably, AFCON 2027, which will be co-hosted by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, will go ahead as planned.
The following edition, originally scheduled for 2029, will be brought forward to 2028, with the next tournament after that set for 2032.
The surprise announcement on the future of AFCON was made by Motsepe after a meeting of CAF’s executive committee in Morocco, ahead of the start of the 2025 finals in Rabat.
UEFA’s European Championship, the equivalent of AFCON, is also held every four years.
Motsepe also announced plans to introduce an African Nations League, which will be played annually.
The competition, similar to the UEFA Nations League, is expected to involve all 54 CAF member associations, divided into four geographical zones, with matches played in September and October before finals staged in November.
