The Confederation of African Football announced the start date of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, scheduled to be held in Morocco, and brought down the curtain on a major controversy that has arisen in this regard over the past months.
It is assumed that the official date for the 2025 African Cup of Nations is June of the same year, but the holding of the 2025 Club World Cup caused this date to be changed.
According to the CAF announcement, the competition will be held in December 2025, starting on the 21st and continuing for nearly a month, with the final match taking place on January 18, 2026.
This is the first time that African Nations events begin in December. It was usual for them to be played between January and February, or in the summer, as happened once in Egypt 2019.
But due to the Club World Cup and the participation of 4 African teams out of 32 teams from all over the world, CAF invented this new date and postponed the tournament for 6 months.
It is noteworthy that the draw for the 2025 African Cup of Nations qualifiers will be held next July, with 24 teams qualifying to participate in the competition whose title is the Côte d’Ivoire national team.
