THE AFRICA Cup of Nations (AFCON) is as important as the European Championship and the Copa America, even though the football establishment is demonstrably convinced that only the European Championship really counts. The club game is undoubtedly dominated by the European giants, but we cannot forget that the continent’s big clubs depend on talent from Africa. That is why AFCON plays a crucial role in the development of European football. UEFA clubs have provided 57.29% of the 24 countries’ squad members, while French football accounts for almost 12%. Furthermore, the last 16 in the competition have players from 25 English clubs, while Sunderland employs six.
With 381 players from European competitions, it is perhaps no surprise that AFCON will move to a cycle of every four years, from the current frequency of two. AFCON’s place on the calendar has been greeted with annoyance by some top clubs as they lose their players for about a month every two years. In recent years there appears to have been a concerted effort to change the cycle, with FIFA’s Gianni Infantino calling the current format – in the style of his best friend from Washington – ‘useless’.
Infantino may have influenced the outcome, perhaps by making promises that would not only allow him to align CAF with other confederations, but also strengthen his own position when it comes to re-election. After all, Infantino has given Africa a bigger voice at the World Cup with eight qualifying tournaments for the new, ‘big beautiful’ World Cup of 2026, and has also given Morocco, long-time bidders for a guest role, a piece of 2030.
Morocco is hosting this year’s event, finally finding a greater welcome on the world stage. As ever, African football has its inconsistencies, with Ghana absent from the 2026 qualifiers at the 24-team AFCON and Nigeria, which is in the last 16 and not part of the upcoming World Cup.
Some people believe that AFCON is a crucial part of African football culture as well as a major source of income, but there won’t be a gap in the calendar because – you guessed it – an African Nations League, an annual event, is on the way. AFCON is also a great showcase for players who have not yet been fully recognized by foreign scouts. The cynics are concerned that CAF is losing some of its autonomy and that Infantino is having undesirable influence over the confederation’s president, Patrice Motsepe.
This year’s AFCON is yet to catch fire and many of the games were simply uninteresting. The crowds have been disappointing with an average of 20,000 in large stadiums and the number of goals per match, while better than the last seven tournaments is currently 2.42. The knockout stages are about to begin and most of Africa’s heavyweights are all here. Morocco, Senegal and Egypt are among the favourites, they will face Tanzania, Sudan and Benin respectively in the last sixteen.
Whatever the outcome, new names are sure to emerge from the competition and while some football clubs may have found the two-year cycle rather disruptive, the Confederation of African Football should be able to set its own agenda.
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Game of the People was founded in 2012 and is ranked among the 100 best football websites by various sources. The site consistently wins awards for its work, on a wide range of topics. View all posts by Neil Fredrik Jensen
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