The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has officially received three bids to host the 2028 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). Morocco, South Africa in partnership with Botswana, and Ethiopia have all thrown their hats into the ring, submitting their expressions of interest just ahead of the Thursday deadline.
This marks a significant moment in the tournament’s history as AFCON 2028 will be the first edition under CAF’s new structure, transitioning from a biennial event to a quadrennial tournament. The change was announced by CAF President Patrice Motsepe at the conclusion of the 2025 edition in Morocco, reflecting the need to better align with the increasingly congested global football calendar.
Motsepe’s announcement was part of a broader restructuring of Africa’s football landscape, with the introduction of an annual African Nations League competition set to begin in 2029. This reform is intended to provide a more competitive and structured framework for African football while offering national teams a more balanced and consistent schedule.
Morocco, fresh off hosting AFCON 2025, which ran from December 2025 to January 2026, has proven its ability to deliver world-class football tournaments. The North African country received widespread praise for setting new infrastructural standards for the tournament, with state-of-the-art facilities and smooth operations.
Ethiopia, which was one of the four founding nations of AFCON in 1957, has previously hosted the competition three times: in 1962, when they won their first and only title, and then in 1968 and 1976. This marks their renewed ambition to once again lead the continent in football excellence, with the hope of securing the right to host the prestigious tournament for a fourth time.
South Africa, which previously hosted AFCON in 1996 and 2013, now seeks to partner with Botswana for a joint bid. Botswana, despite not having hosted AFCON before, is eager to contribute to the regional development of football and show its readiness to support such a major continental sporting event.
The bid submissions come ahead of the 2027 AFCON, which will be jointly hosted by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. These three nations are preparing for what promises to be a highly anticipated edition of the tournament, following years of growing football infrastructure and fan enthusiasm in East Africa.
The decision on the 2028 host nation(s) will be made during CAF’s upcoming executive committee meeting scheduled for Friday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Among the key agenda items will be updates on the 2027 AFCON preparations, while CAF is also expected to deliberate and decide on the winning bid for 2028.
