The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has revealed plans to expand the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to 28 participating teams.
CAF president, Patrice Motsepe, announced the proposed expansion on Friday during the confederation’s executive committee (ExCo) meeting press conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
AFCON currently features 24 teams, and the proposed expansion would allow four additional countries to participate in each edition.
“I had said in Morocco that CAF’s objective is to have AFCON, or the equivalent of AFCON, every year — not every two years. And AFCON, as we know it, we want to increase it to 28 countries. As we said, that will take place once every four years,” Motsepe said.
However, the CAF president did not disclose when the changes would take effect. The next edition of AFCON will be held in 2027 and co-hosted by Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
In December 2025, CAF announced that AFCON would be held every four years starting in 2028 — a departure from the traditional biennial arrangement that had been in place since the competition’s inception.
The confederation also disclosed that it will launch the African Nations League in 2029.
The South African added that while AFCON tournaments generate the majority of CAF’s revenue, the Nations League will usher in a new revenue stream to boost its financial resources.
