AFCON 2025: CAF Announces ‘Strange’ Date for Start of 35th Edition of Competition in Morocco, Report

• The lead-up to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is gradually eroding the continent's footballing scenes
• The 35th edition of the footballing showpiece is scheduled to take place in North African nation, Morocco
• The Confederation of African Football has released a surprise date for the start of the Cup of Nations

The start date of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has often sparked debate among African football stakeholders.

A host of elite football stars, past and present, have expressed dissatisfaction with the current schedule, which takes place between January and February, coinciding with the peak of club football seasons.

They have often advocated for a rescheduling of the tournament to the summer, aligning it with the schedules of the UEFA Euro and the FIFA World Cup.

In response to these calls, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced what appears to be an unusual start date for the 2025 edition of the tournament.

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CAF announces strange AFCON date

The 35th edition slated for Morocco will be held between July 20 and August 17, 2025, according to a report from Morocco World News.

CAF has explained that this decision was made to accommodate the participation of African players in the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup, scheduled for June and July 2025.

However, this new date selection by CAF means that the tournament will overlap with the start of many European league seasons for 2025-26. This could result in African players not having sufficient rest before joining their clubs for the new season.

Despite this, many European clubs are likely to prefer this new schedule over the current January/February window.

The last time the AFCON was held in the summer was in Egypt in 2019, a tournament where Djamel Belmadhi's Algeria emerged victorious against Senegal in the final.

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Reasons why Nigeria lost the AFCON

Sports Brief in another report highlighted reasons why Nigeria lost the 2023 AFCON final to Ivory Coast.

Peseiro's team entered the final as favourites but surprisingly lost to the Ivorians, defying many predictions.

Goals from midfielder, Franck Kessie, and forward, Sebastien Haller, were enough to cancel out an early William Troost-Ekong strike and seal the win for Les Elephants.