AFCON: CAF announces Morocco as host in 2025, Kenya-Uganda-Tanzania in 2027

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed that Morocco will host the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2025.

A joint East African proposal by Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania was also successful in winning the right to host the tournament in 2027. It’s the first time for three countries to jointly host AFCON.

Senegal and Botswana’s aspirations were crushed by the East Africans.

Namibia dropped their bid to host the tournament after previously expressing interest in hosting the event alongside Botswana.

Morocco replaces Guinea, which was kicked out of the event in October last year due to infrastructure and facility concerns.

“The work begins now, winning the bid is the first step,” said Federation of Kenyan Football president Nick Mwendwa told a local news outlet, The Nation.

“We fought through to win and be on top of the pile but it is not to be celebrated, the work begins now.

“Everybody has to pull together and get a tournament going so we don’t lose it like we have done before. Let’s bring Pamoja home.”

Zambia and a joint Nigeria-Benin bid suspended their ambitions to give Morocco an opportunity to establish its merits in the hopes of increasing Africa’s prospects of hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2030. Morocco is jointly bidding for the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal.

The FIFA Council are expected to meet in the fourth quarter of 2024 to select a host for the tournament. As hosts of the 2022 and 2026 editions respectively, the 2030 FIFA World Cup cannot be hosted by a member of the Asian AFC or the North American CONCACAF. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be decided in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.