AFRICA CUP 2025
21. December 2025 - 18. January 2026
History
Founded: 1957
Region: Africa (CAF)
Number of teams: 24
Most successful team: Egypt (7x titles)
Current African Cup of Nations 2024: Cote d'Ivoire
The 2026 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco is the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa (CAF).
The Africa Cup of Nations, also referred to as the African Nations Cup (ANC), is the main international association football competition in Africa.
It is sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and was first held in 1957.
Since 1968, it has been held every two years.
The titleholders at the time of the FIFA Confederations Cup qualify for that competition.
In 1957, there were only three participating nations: Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. South Africa was to compete but was disqualified due to the apartheid policies of the government then in power.
Since then, the tournament has grown, making it necessary to hold a qualifying tournament.
The number of participants in the final tournament reached 16 in 1998. In July 2017, two changes were proposed: switching the timing of the competition from January to the Northern Hemisphere summer and expanding from 16 to 24 teams (effective from the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations). On 20 July 2017, the CAF Executive Commission approved the propositions at a meeting in Rabat, Morocco.
Since then, the format has been unchanged, with the twenty-four teams being drawn into six groups of four teams each, with the top two teams of each group, and the four best runners-up advancing to a "knock-out" stage.
Egypt is the most successful nation in the cup's history, winning the tournament with a record of seven times. Ghana and Cameroon have won four titles each.