WeeklySA_AdminTOURNAMENT: The 2027 AFCON will proceed in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania next June, while Morocco remains on track to host the expanded 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana
The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has announced that the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) will take place in June and July next year, and to be jointly hosted as scheduled by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Caf’s executive committee met in Dar es Salaam today. The announcement comes amid major concerns over the infrastructure in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and their ability to cope with a 24-team tournament due to be spread over 10 cities.
Last August, there were challenges including ticketing and security measures around the stadiums in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda that hosted the Africa Nations Championships (Chan) for domestic-based players. “The Afcon next year in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda is going to be enormously successful,” CAF president Patrice Motsepe said.
“I am enormously confident. There are always challenges.“We have to believe in ourselves as Africans and believe in our people. The quality of people we have who lead African football are world class.”
Motsepe was speaking at a news conference after a meeting of Caf’s executive committee in Dar es Salaam, and an inspection of facilities and infrastructure in the three host nations by officials from the continent’s governing body will run until Tuesday. Caf made a commitment to host Afcon mid-year from 2019 onwards, but the past three editions have been played in a January-February or December-January slot.
The precise dates of the 2027 Afcon will be announced in due course, Motsepe added. The Caf president did not give an update on bids to host the 2028 finals, but said he hoped to expand Afcon from 24 to 28 teams in the future.
2026 Wafcon
Motsepe also said Caf “still have an engagement” with Morocco to host the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon), which is scheduled to kick off on March 17.
But, Morocco World News (MWN) reports that Motsepe confirmed that Wafcon will take place as planned in Morocco from March 17 to 3 April 3 2026, despite recent speculation about a potential relocation or postponement.
“There are discussions taking place, and there are a lot of competitions. Morocco came to assist because there were many countries that wanted to host it but because we didn’t have time, our standards were very high,” Motsepe quoted by MWN as having told the press conference at CAF’s Executive Council meeting in Dar es Salaam.
But he assured that Morocco remains the host nation, and the tournament will proceed within its scheduled window, because “as we speak now, we still have engagements with Morocco because some of the other countries say they want to host it, but want the date changed,” he continued, according to the MWN report.
In recent weeks, confusion spread online and in some media reports suggesting that Morocco might step away from hosting the women’s tournament, with South Africa even mentioned as a possible stand‑in host.
However, CAF’s leadership has made it clear that no official decision has been taken to relocate the event, and Morocco remains officially appointed as host.
CAF has officially expanded the tournament up from 12 to 16 teams, which is a huge deal because it means more countries get a shot at the title and women’s football across Africa gets bigger. – Fullview
