AFCON

 

⚽ Back to 2 years for the AFCON

 

It did not take long. CAF's Executive Committee had barely settled on a four-year AFCON cycle before unanimously agreeing to scrap it — deciding instead to return the continent's flagship national-team competition to its established every-two-years format. The reversal, announced in the wake of the CAF Strategy Conference held in Cabo Verde from 7 to 9 October 2026, represents one of the more striking policy pivots in recent African football governance.

 

 

At the heart of the original proposal was a vision to replace the biennial AFCON slot with a new Pan-African competition — the Africa Nations League — that would fill the calendar while generating the commercial revenues CAF needs to become financially self-sufficient. In practice, the reality proved more cautious than the ambition. CAF concluded that the Nations League concept, however attractive in theory, would take several years to build the kind of financial traction needed to make African football genuinely competitive on a global scale.

 

 

CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe, who had publicly flagged the reassessment during the Cabo Verde conference, framed the reversal as a decision made in the collective interest of the confederation and its member associations. The unanimity of the vote suggests there was little appetite among executive committee members to press ahead with a structure that carried financial uncertainty — particularly as African clubs and broadcasters have built their own planning cycles around knowing when AFCON will fall.

 

 

What the Calendar Now Looks Like

 

With the biennial format restored, the upcoming AFCON schedule is now set through the early 2030s. The 2027 edition remains on track and will be hosted jointly by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda — a first for the tournament in terms of a three-nation East African co-hosting arrangement. From there, the rhythm picks up a wrinkle familiar to any football calendar architect: the tournament will not be held in a FIFA World Cup year.

 

Year	Status	Notes
2027	Kenya, Tanzania & Uganda	First East African co-hosted AFCON
2028	Scheduled	Biennial cycle resumes
2030	—	FIFA World Cup year — AFCON not held Skipped
2031	Scheduled	Post-World Cup edition
2033	Scheduled	Cycle continues

The 2030 gap — a year that will see the FIFA World Cup staged across Morocco, Portugal, Spain, and Argentina — creates a three-year interval before the 2031 edition rather than the usual two. It is a quirk of the scheduling, but not an unfamiliar one: African players participating at a World Cup final are well used to navigating the overlapping demands of club, continent, and global competition.

 

 

Source: 3nul.com

Images: Getty, CAF

 

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AFCON 2027

 

⚽ Claude Leroy dit ses verités

 

Onze ans. C’est le temps qui sépare le Congo de sa dernière qualification pour la Coupe d’Afrique des Nations. Pour un pays qui a remporté le trophée à une reprise en 1972 au Cmaeroun et qui regorge de talents, ce désert sportif est une blessure profonde. Claude Le Roy, qui retrouve les Diables Rouges avec l’ambition de les ramener sur la scène continentale, sait qu’il hérite d’un chantier considérable.

 

Ses deux premiers matchs à la tête de la sélection — une défaite face à la Namibie et un match nul contre le Cameroun — ont été disputés dans des conditions loin d’être idéales. Peu de temps de préparation, un groupe à peine découvert, des principes de jeu à peine amorcés. Le Roy ne cherche pas d’excuses, mais il pose le diagnostic avec clarté : reconstruire une équipe, ça prend du temps. Et le Congo n’a pas eu ce luxe.

 

 

 

Des agents qui monnayent les convocations

 

Mais si l’aspect sportif est une préoccupation, c’est un autre sujet qui donne à cet entretien toute sa force. Claude Le Roy dénonce ouvertement ce qu’il décrit comme une pratique corrosive dans le football africain : des agents qui réclameraient de l’argent pour permettre à leurs joueurs d’intégrer une sélection nationale. Des sommes qui, selon lui, pourraient atteindre 40 000 euros.

 

« C’est inadmissible », tranche-t-il. Pour le sélectionneur, les convocations ne peuvent obéir qu’à un seul critère : la valeur sportive du joueur et l’intérêt collectif de l’équipe. Toute autre logique est une trahison du football.

 

Ces pratiques, s’inscrivant dans un tableau plus large de dysfonctionnements institutionnels, expliquent en partie les années perdues. L’instabilité chronique de la fédération congolaise, les problèmes de gouvernance, les luttes intestines au sein des instances : autant de freins à la construction d’un projet cohérent. L’arrivée d’une nouvelle direction fédérale est saluée par Le Roy, qui y voit une opportunité de repartir sur des bases saines

 

FIFA, Infantino et la CAN tous les deux ans

 

Le sélectionneur ne s’arrête pas là. Son regard critique se tourne aussi vers la FIFA et son président Gianni Infantino, qu’il accuse d’orienter le football mondial davantage vers la rentabilité que vers le développement. L’influence croissante de l’instance internationale sur les compétitions africaines l’inquiète.

 

 

 

Sur la question de la CAN, Le Roy est catégorique : la compétition doit rester biennale. Pour lui, organiser la CAN tous les deux ans n’est pas seulement une question de calendrier — c’est un levier de développement concret. Les infrastructures, les stades, les retombées économiques pour les pays hôtes : tout cela dépend de la régularité de la compétition. Passer à un format quadriennal reviendrait, selon lui, à ralentir la progression du continent.

 

Un optimisme lucide

 

Malgré les obstacles, Claude Le Roy croit au Congo. Il croit au potentiel humain, au vivier de joueurs talentueux dispersés aux quatre coins du monde. Ce qui a manqué, ce n’est pas le talent — c’est le cadre pour l’exprimer.

 

Ce cadre, il entend bien le construire. Une qualification pour la CAN serait une première étape. Retrouver une place digne sur la carte du football africain, la finalité.

 

 

 

Source: 3nul.com

Images: Getty, After Foot

 

AFCON 2027

 

⚽ AFCON 2027 Qualifiers

 

Guinea-Bissau vs Nigeria

 

 

 

Zimbabwe vs DR Congo

 

 

 

South Africa vs Guinea

 

 

 

Ghana vs Gambia

 

 

 

Senegal Press Conference after Victory against Ethiopia

 

 

 

 

Congo Brazzville vs Cameroon

 

 

 

Source: 3nul.com

Images: CAF, Getty, Sports Hemo, Naija Bias Football Channel, KRYVEX-MC, Mzansi Football Hub. Abo Rayan

 

AFCON 2027

 

⚽ AFCON 2027 Qualifiers Matchday 1: The Full Round-Up

 

The road to Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda began in earnest this week as the group stage of the AFCON 2027 qualifiers kicked off across the continent. 24 matches produced 63 goals on Matchday One, with 16 home sides claiming all three points and just two away teams managing to win. Here is everything that happened.

 

THE HEADLINE RESULT — Ivory Coast 2-0 Ghana

 

 

The headline result came in Bouaké, where reigning African champions Ivory Coast handed Ghana a damaging 2-0 defeat in Group C. Yalcouye and Kessie — from the penalty spot — did the damage as the Elephants sent an immediate statement of intent to the rest of the continent.

 

 

 

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 24

 

DR Congo beat Equatorial Guinea 2-0, Sierra Leone lost 3-2 to Zimbabwe, Mauritania beat Central African Republic 3-1, Namibia edged Congo Brazzaville 1-0, Cameroon beat Comoros 3-1, Libya drew 2-2 with Botswana, and Tunisia drew 1-1 with Uganda.

 

 

 

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 25

 

 

Tanzania fell 2-0 at home to Guinea-Bissau, Gambia beat Somalia 2-1, Malawi beat South Sudan 2-1, Niger beat Lesotho 2-1, Nigeria beat Madagascar 2-1, Rwanda beat Liberia 3-1, Sudan beat Ethiopia 1-0, Togo beat Burundi 1-0, Algeria beat Zambia 3-1, Burkina Faso drew 1-1 with Benin, Egypt drew 0-0 with Angola, Mali beat Cape Verde 3-1, Morocco beat Gabon 2-0 — and Mozambique held Sénégal to a 1-1 draw.

 

Nigeria vs Madagascar

 

Mozambique vs Senegal

 

 

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 26

 

Bafana Bafana 2-1 Guinea — Mosimane's winning start

 

The most eagerly awaited fixture on home soil delivered. South Africa got their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign off to a winning start, defeating Guinea 2-1 in a Group D match at Orlando Stadium in Soweto. Ime Okon broke the deadlock in the 30th minute after Teboho Mokoena's in-swinging cross from the left produced a blocked effort that Okon drove home at the back post.

 

 

 

Guinea equalised in the 69th minute when a free-kick deflected off the defensive wall and fell kindly to Seydouba Cissé, who slotted in from close range. But substitute Samukele Kabini struck in the 77th minute to seal victory for Pitso Mosimane's side. It was a winning start for the new Bafana era.

 

 

 

Kenya 1-1 Eritrea

 

 

Kenya and Eritrea played to a 1-1 draw in another Group D qualifier in Nairobi, meaning South Africa lead Group D after Matchday 1.

 

 

LOOKING AHEAD

 

Several matches from the first round of fixtures remain to be played. South Africa travel to Eritrea on Wednesday 30 September, while further Group D action sees Guinea host Kenya. The second leg of fixtures in this window runs through to October 6, before the campaign resumes in November.

 

 

Source: 3nul.com

Images: CAF, Getty, Sports Hemo, Naija Bias Football Channel, KRYVEX-MC, Mzansi Football Hub

 

AFCON 2027

 

⚽ CAF President Motsepe Holds AFCON 2027 Press Conference

 

The countdown to AFCON 2027 is well and truly under way.

 

Motsepe was in Tanzania on an oversight visit ahead of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations PAMOJA 2027 — the continent's premier international football tournament, which Tanzania will host. The visit underlines CAF's commitment to ensuring preparations are on track and that the host nation is ready to deliver a tournament worthy of African football's biggest stage.

 

Let's watch the video below.

 

 

 

Source: 3nul.com

Images: CAF TV