Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motepe announced the trophy on Friday
Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motepe on Friday announced that the next Africa Cup of Nations scheduled for Morocco will be held from December 21, 2025 to January 18, 2026.
“I am confident that the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations will be very successful for Morocco and will be the best in the history of this tournament,” said Motesepe.
The African Union held a virtual executive committee meeting at its headquarters in Cairo on Friday evening, after which Motesepe made the announcement.
This edition was originally scheduled to take place between June 15 and July 13, 2025, to avoid a conflict with the first ever Club Cup tournament in the United States.
🚨 Setting appointments 🚨
🏆 African Cup 2025
📍 Morocco
📆 Opening match: December 21, 2025
📆 Final: January 18, 2026 pic.twitter.com/9jmEk6hl4k– CAF – Arabic (@caf_online_AR) June 21, 2024
A further challenge for Continental Union officials is the desire to avoid dates that conflict with Champions League matches. The final sixth round of Europe’s elite club competition ends on 11 December 2025 and the seventh round starts on 21 January 2026.
However, the new dates will no doubt upset many Premier League clubs as the Christmas and New Year period sees teams busy playing many matches in a short space of time.
English media say clubs could be barred from recruiting the continent’s stars to their national teams as they are restricted to just one international tournament a year, with the next World Cup in 2026 in the US, Mexico and Canada.
The draw for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is scheduled to be held on July 4 in Johannesburg, and 48 teams will be divided into 12 groups.
