Africa Cup of Nations

Publication date: 31 Aug 2022

About the Africa Cup of Nations

The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON, African Cup of Nations) is Africa’s premier international football competition. It is organized under the management of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Since 1968, it has been held every 2 years, while since 2013, it has been held in odd-numbered years so as not to fall in the FIFA World Cup years.

Official CAF website

2025 Africa Cup of Nations

The 35th season of the Africa Cup of Nations will be held in Morocco from December 21, 2025 to January 18, 2026. It is known that 24 teams will take part in the football tournament. Qualification for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations began on September 4, 2024 and will last until November 19.

History of African Cup of Nations

The first Africa Cup of Nations was held in 1957 when three teams – Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia – took part. It was won by the Egyptians. The South African team also planned to participate in the championship but due to a conflict, they refused to take part and later withdrew from the CAF. Before 1992, the South African team did not take part in international competitions on the African continent.

In 1992, the number of participants in the tournament increased to 12. The reason for this was the growing popularity of football in Africa.

In 1996, the tournament was transferred to South Africa resulting in the number of teams participating in the tournament being 16.

Previous winners of the Africa Cup of Nations

The year	Venue	Results/ Winning team
2023	Cote d’Ivoire	Champion – Ivory Coast Second place – Nigeria Third place – South Africa
2021	Cameroon	Champion – Senegal Second place – Egypt Third place – Cameroon
2019	Egypt	Champion – Algeria Second place – Senegal Third place – Nigeria