Africa Cup of Nations to remain on two-year cycle after CAF U-turn

CAF has decided that the Africa Cup of Nations will continue every two years. This reverses the plan announced in December to move the tournament to a four-year cycle from 2028. The decision followed a meeting of CAF’s executive committee, where Motsepe said there were no objections to retaining the two-year schedule.

The change keeps AFCON as a regular continental competition for national teams. CAF said it considered the interests of African football, its 54 member associations, and African players working for clubs outside Africa. A four-year cycle would have created longer gaps between tournaments.

The decision also affects plans for the proposed African Nations League. CAF had considered using the space created by a four-year AFCON cycle to launch that competition in 2029. Motsepe said the Nations League might take several years to provide major financial and football-development benefits, so AFCON’s established schedule will continue.

A biennial tournament takes place every two years. For AFCON, that means national teams have a continental championship in one cycle and return for another two years later. A four-year tournament has twice as much time between editions, making the competition less frequent.

The difference is clear in CAF’s scheduling plans. The organisation had announced that AFCON would move to every four years from 2028. It later reversed that decision and kept the two-year cycle after its executive committee found no objections to the existing arrangement.

The cycle matters because it shapes calendars for national teams, clubs, players, and other competitions. CAF said it considered African football, its 54 member associations, and African players employed outside Africa. It also judged that the proposed African Nations League could take years to deliver major financial and development benefits.

The modern Africa Cup of Nations is a 24-team competition played over a month. Those teams represent national football sides from participating African countries. The article does not provide a separate figure for the number of countries in the current edition, so the confirmed present-day scale is 24 teams and roughly one month of matches.

That is a dramatic expansion from the beginning. Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia contested the inaugural tournament in Sudan in 1957. In 1959, the United Arab Republic, a political union of Egypt and Syria, won a round-robin competition involving Sudan and Ethiopia.

The tournament has therefore grown substantially over 66 years. CAF’s membership now includes 54 associations, but that figure is not the same as the number of teams in one AFCON edition. The article also identifies the 2027 qualifying campaign, involving Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda as hosts, as a six-game process.

CAF originally planned to hold AFCON every four years from 2028. President Patrice Motsepe announced that change in December, shortly before the 2025 tournament began in Morocco. The main reason was to create space for a proposed African Nations League, which CAF hoped to stage for the first time in 2029.

The proposed league was meant to add another major competition to the African football calendar. A less frequent AFCON would have opened room for that new event without keeping both competitions on the same regular cycle. The plan therefore connected tournament scheduling with competition development and future revenue.

CAF later reconsidered the change. Motsepe said the executive committee found no objections to keeping AFCON biennial. He also said the Nations League might require several years before making substantial financial and football-development contributions. That concern helped support keeping the established AFCON schedule.

Keeping AFCON on a two-year cycle preserves a regular major competition for African national teams. CAF said the decision advanced and protected African football and the interests of its 54 member associations. It also explicitly considered African players employed by clubs outside Africa, whose international duties must fit around club football.

The key mechanism is scheduling. A four-year AFCON would have reduced the frequency of the established tournament while making room for the proposed African Nations League. Retaining AFCON means the existing competition remains central, while CAF avoids relying immediately on a new event to fill its sporting and financial role.

The financial result is not presented as a guaranteed gain. Motsepe said the Nations League could take several years to make substantial financial and development contributions. Keeping AFCON therefore protects a known competition while CAF considers how to make its competitions globally competitive and self-supporting.

The African Nations League is a proposed competition for African national teams. CAF planned to stage it for the first time in 2029, after moving AFCON to a four-year cycle from 2028. The article does not describe its format, teams, or match structure, so its exact design remains unspecified.

Its proposed role was to provide another important competition for African football. Motsepe linked it to financial and football-development goals. CAF wanted those contributions to help its competitions become globally competitive and self-supporting. Moving AFCON to a four-year cycle would have created calendar space for the new league.

CAF later kept AFCON biennial because the Nations League could require several years before delivering substantial benefits. The league remains part of the wider scheduling discussion, but the decision shows that CAF does not want to reduce AFCON’s frequency while waiting for a new competition to mature.

Football governing bodies make scheduling decisions by weighing several competing needs. They must protect national-team competitions, leave workable space for club football, consider player availability, and create events that can attract audiences and revenue. Decisions also need to support long-term financial sustainability rather than only short-term calendar changes.

CAF’s process illustrates this balance. Its executive committee reviewed whether AFCON should move from every two years to every four years. Motsepe said CAF considered its 54 member associations, African players employed outside Africa, and the time needed for the proposed Nations League to deliver financial and development benefits.

The article does not detail negotiations with broadcasters or clubs. In general, those stakeholders matter because matches require available players, suitable dates, and sufficient audience interest. CAF ultimately kept AFCON biennial because the established tournament’s value was clearer than the immediate benefits of a new competition. The choice preserves continuity while leaving future scheduling open.