The Africa Cup of Nations returns to a two-year cycle, with a transition to 2033
· BehindLines newsroom
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is giving up on moving the Africa Cup of Nations to a four-year cycle. In a statement dated 29 October 2026, it announces a unanimous decision by its executive committee in favour of returning to a competition every two years. The change concerns the rhythm of the tournament, but the editions announced next still follow a transitional calendar.
The next Cup of Nations remains scheduled for 2027, jointly organised by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The three following editions are announced for 2028, 2031 and 2033 in the CAF statement. That sequence contains a gap of one year, then three years, then two years, so the announced two-year formula does not mean there will be an edition in every even-numbered year.
The AFP dispatch published by Malaysia's public broadcaster RTM repeats the same years. It reports that Patrice Motsepe, the CAF president, links the gap between 2028 and 2031 to the World Cup scheduled for 2030 and to the constraints of the international calendar. The year 2030 therefore appears in the explanation, not in the list of upcoming Cup of Nations tournaments.
CAF also justifies its reconsideration by the time the future African Nations League would need to bring in the expected financial resources. This is the argument put forward by the governing body, and the statement gives no figure. To follow the competition, two reference points should therefore be kept in mind: the principle of a return every two years, and the years expressly chosen for its transition.