THE 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will take place in June and July next year, as announced by Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe.

The 2027 edition will take place in the East African region, with Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda co-hosting. Reports that the event will be delayed are “totally unfounded” according to the CAF boss.

“The AFCON next year in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda is going to be enormously successful,” Motsepe added. “I am enormously confident. There are always challenges.

“We have to believe in ourselves as Africans and believe in our people. The quality of people we have who lead African football are world class.”

Motsepe was speaking at a news conference after a meeting of CAF’s executive committee in Dar es Salaam on Friday, and an inspection of facilities and infrastructure in the three host nations by CAF officials will continue into next week.

The tournament’s return to a mid-year slot aligns with CAF’s commitment to host in June and July from 2019 onwards though the last three editions have been in January-February or December-January due to climate and scheduling challenges.

In addition, Motsepe noted that the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) will be held in Morocco from 17 March, as scheduled.

Earlier this month South Africa’s deputy sports minister said her country would step in and stage the finals, though her comments were later walked back by sports minister Gayton McKenzie.

“Some other countries said, ‘Please can we host it?’ But they want to change the date,” Motsepe explained.

“We can’t change the date because it is a qualifier for the 2027 Women’s World Cup. The WAFCON continues and it will be successful. It has to take place within that window.”