African Nations League

Last updated
African Nations League
Organiser(s) CAF
Founded20 December 2025
RegionAfrica
Teams54
Related competitions Africa Cup of Nations
Soccerball current event.svg 2029 African Nations League

The African Nations League (ANL) is a planned continental international men's association football competition contested by the national teams of the CAF member associations. It is scheduled to be introduced as part of a major restructuring of African international football announced in late 2025. The competition is intended to take place annually beginning in 2029, filling the calendar gap created by the change in the scheduling of the Africa Cup of Nations from a biennial event held in odd-numbered years to a quadrennial event held in leap years. [1]

Contents

History

The African Nations League was announced by CAF president Patrice Motsepe on 20 December 2025 at a press conference in Rabat, Morocco, ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations that was beginning in the host nation. The announcement followed a CAF Executive Committee decision to move the Africa Cup of Nations (Africa Cup of Nations) tournament from a biennial schedule to a four-year cycle after the 2028 edition, mirroring the format used by other continental championships such as the UEFA European Championship and Copa América. The African Nations League was created to ensure that there would be competitive continental football for national teams every year to provide additional revenue and sporting opportunities.

Motsepe indicated that the ANL would involve all 54 CAF member associations, organised regionally into four zones, with matches played during the FIFA international windows in September and October, and finals (contested between the four regional winners) held in November each year.

Format

The proposed format for the African Nations League would begin with regional group stages, with teams split into four geographic zones: North Africa (6 teams), and East Africa, West Africa, and Central & Southern Africa (16 teams each). [2] During the consecutive FIFA international windows beginning from 2026 in September and October, teams in each zone would play group matches against others in their region. The highest-placing teams from those groups would then progress to a final tournament in November, where they would compete to determine the overall African Nations League champion.

On 20 December 2025, the CAF president Dr Patrice Motsepe announced several changes for future development of African football made by the CAF Executive Committee. Among them, Mauritania which was a country located in West Africa on the western crossroad to North Africa, was officially reassigned to the North African Football Union (NAFA), ending its participation in the zone A of West African Football Union (WAFU) region. [3] The development represents a significant structural shift within African football, with direct implications for regional competitions, qualification pathways, and administrative groupings under the Confederation of African Football (CAF). By moving to the North Africa zone, Mauritania will no longer compete in WAFU A tournaments and qualifiers. [4]


Proposed Structure

Relationship with Africa Cup of Nations

The establishment of the African Nations League was directly tied to adjustments in the Africa Cup of Nations calendar. CAF decided to shift Africa Cup of Nations to a quadrennial cycle, beginning after the 2028 edition, to align with the broader international football calendar and to reduce conflicts with European club schedules. The African Nations League is seen as a complementary competition to provide consistent competitive fixtures for African national teams in non-Africa Cup of Nations years.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Africa Cup of Nations to be held every four years from 2028". BBC Sport. 2025-12-20. Retrieved 2025-12-20.
  2. ↑ Hughes, Simon (2025-12-21). "Does surprise AFCON schedule change really benefit African football?". New York Times . Retrieved 2025-12-22.
  3. ↑ "WATCH LIVE: CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe to host press conference in Rabat, Morocco on Saturday". Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF). 2025-12-20. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
  4. ↑ Busari, Niyi (2025-12-20). "Mauritania Reassigned To North Africa, Exits West Africa Zone A". Basic Sports in Nigeria. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.