AFCON stays every two years as CAF reverses four-year plan

The Africa Cup of Nations will stay a two-yearly tournament after African football’s governing body reversed its plan to hold it every four years.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Friday 30 October that its Executive Committee had voted unanimously to revoke the change. CAF had announced last December that the tournament would move to a four-year cycle starting from 2028, clearing space for a proposed new competition, the African Nations League, which was due to begin in 2029.

CAF president Patrice Motsepe said the decision to keep the tournament every two years was based on advancing, protecting and promoting the interests of African football, its 54 member associations, and African players employed by clubs outside Africa.

CAF also said it was concerned about how long the proposed Nations League would take to generate the substantial financial resources needed for African football and CAF competitions to become globally competitive and self-supporting.

Why it matters

• The four-year plan had been unpopular with many in African football. Critics argued it was shaped around the European club calendar rather than African interests, and that a longer gap between tournaments would cut income and competitive football for smaller national federations.
• The U-turn restores the Africa Cup of Nations as the continent’s regular flagship tournament, keeping its traditional rhythm. It also settles, for now, a scheduling argument that has run since the four-year plan was announced — although the biennial format has long caused fixture clashes, with most recent tournaments played midway through the European club season.

What happens next

The next Africa Cup of Nations will go ahead as planned in 2027, jointly hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. CAF said the following editions would take place in 2028, 2031 and 2033.

There will be no tournament in 2030, because of the FIFA World Cup that year — in line with the tradition that confederation championships are not held in a World Cup year. Readers should note the published years are not evenly spaced: after back-to-back editions in 2027 and 2028, there is a gap before 2031.

Sources

• https://www.thescore.com/news/3639314/afcon-to-stay-on-2-year-cycle-as-caf-reverses-course (Associated Press via theScore, 30 October 2026)
• https://capitalfm.africa/afcon-to-return-to-two-year-cycle-after-caf-u-turn/ (BBC via Capital FM, 30 October 2026)

This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.