The Africa Cup in Morocco will be held in the winter of 2025/2026. Just a few months ago, the media had consistently reported that the organizers were aiming for a period in July and August 2025
Anger over postponements likely: The Africa Cup in Morocco will be held in winter 2025/2026 after all. The opening match of the tournament will take place on December 21, 2025, with the final on January 18, 2026, the Executive Committee of the African Football Confederation (CAF) announced on Friday. Media reports to the contrary from February, according to which the organizers were aiming for a period in July and August 2025, were not confirmed.
“Difficult discussions” cause delays
The announcement of the dates “took much longer than expected”, CAF President Patrice Motsepe (62) is quoted as saying. There had been “difficult discussions with various interested parties” due to the “international and national match calendar”.
It was only in January that the tournament in Côte d’Ivoire was postponed from 2023 to 2024 due to unfinished infrastructure. Many teams from the top European leagues had to withdraw their players in the middle of the season. Among them Dortmund’s Sebastian Haller, who shot the Ivorians to the title in his home country
Equal time only for the women
If the tournament had been held in the summer of 2025, it would have overlapped with the newly created 32-team FIFA Club World Cup. The African association is keen to build “beneficial relationships” with the European Club Association ECA, the European association UEFA, other soccer confederations and FIFA, explained the South African Motsepe.
It was also announced that the Women’s Africa Cup will be held in Morocco in the summer (July 5-26, 2025). The tournament will therefore take place in the same period as the European Women’s Championship in Switzerland (July 2 to 27, 2025).
