The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has given its agreement in principle for the next African Cup that will be hosted in Morocco to be held in July through August of 2025, official sources based in Cairo told AFP news agency on Monday.
At the beginning of February, the president of CAF, Patrice Motsepe, avoided giving an official date for the AFCON, also known as CAN, which was initially planned for January through February of 2025.
The prestigious African Cup is likely to take place at the same time as FIFA will host its first major 32-team Club World Cup from June 15 to July 13 in the United States.
On Monday, an official of the committee in charge of competitions told AFP that there was “an agreement in principle between CAF and the Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) for the CAN to be held during the summer, more precisely in July and August 2025.
“This agreement was reached under the aegis of FIFA after a series of talks which intensified during the last edition held in Cote d’Ivoire,” they continued. The official concluded stating that the currently proposed dates are from around July 20 to August 17, 2025.
The two previous CANs had been postponed by CAF due to adverse weather conditions.
CAN 2021 was played in January through February of 2022 in Cameroon and was won by Senegal, while the latest African Cup began on January 13, 2024, in Cote d’Ivoire, resulting in the hosts lifting the winning trophy.
The qualifications for CAN 2025 have still not started, but a preliminary round is scheduled from March 18 to 26 according to the CAF calendar.
The draw for the preliminary round of the qualifiers for the next edition, officially called “CAN TotalEnergies Maroc 2025” will take place on Tuesday in Cairo, announced CAF.
This preliminary round will take place with the eight lowest-ranked teams according to the FIFA rankings, namely Somalia, Djibouti, Sao Tome, Chad, Mauritius, South Sudan, Liberia and Eswatini.
The matches will be played home and away during the FIFA window from March 18 to 26, 2024, adds CAF, noting that the four winners of the preliminary round will join the 44 exempt teams for the group stage of the qualifiers.
CAN 2027 will be co-hosted in the three African countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
After the elimination of the Atlas Lions in the Round of 16 in Cote d’Ivoire against the Bafana Bafana, Moroccan fans will stand behind their national squad once again in hopes of achieving a better result on their soil.
The Atlas Lions’ win in the 1976 African Cup of Nations remains their single tournament triumph, contrasting with six World Cup finals appearances from 1970 when Africa had limited representation.