Will the New African Nations League Replace AFCON?

African Nations League Unveiled - Will it Replace AFCON?

CAF President Patrice Motsepe has been discussing more details surrounding his project to launch the "African Nations League", a new competition that he had initially announced ahead of AFCON 2025.

Following the CAF's Executive Committee meeting in recent days, Motsepe outline the bold new strategy in a press conference, revealing his plan will feature two main formats.

Africa’s new football era from 2027 under CAF 🏆🌍

⋄ 2027 & 2028 → AFCON (28 teams)
⋄ 2029–2030 → Africa Nations League Continental (Sept–Nov)
⋄ 2031 → Africa Nations League Pan-African (24 top teams)
⋄ 2032 → AFCON (28 teams) pic.twitter.com/fHfXbcrqZg

— 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗰𝗼 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 | 𝗠𝗙𝗡 (@MFN_TW) March 29, 2026

The first of the two tournament types will be called "African National League - Continental" which will be held annually. National teams involved will compete within their geographical areas with the two best teams from each zone qualifying for a final tournament to crown a winner. These finals will take place every two years in a neutral host nation in order to bring representative together across the continent.

The second tournament will be the "African Nations League - Pan African", which Motsepe claimed will "closely mirror AFCON's current format" as it will be in action bi-annually. He also mentioned that AFCON will expand to 28 teams instead of the current 24, and will follow along with formats such as the European Championship and World Cup in that it will be contested every four years, instead of two.

The Pan African league is designed to include professional players who compete across Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Motsepe concluded with a confirmation that the next AFCON will still go ahead in 2027, taking place in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda as planned, followed by another instalment in 2028 before settling into its planned four-year cycle from then onwards.

Is the African Nations League Replacing AFCON?

In short, no.

The African Nations League is a bold new plan that will further increase the level of international activity and acclaim across Africa. It's UEFA counterpart was received well by fans hoping for more competitive international football rather than streams of friendly matches, and this initiative will aim to do the same for African football as well.

AFCON as we know and love it will not quite be the same, as it will no longer come around every two years but rather every four years like many other major international tournaments, but the competition is not being dissolved or replaced. Instead, it is being supplemented with a bold new pair of tournaments that will provide more opportunities for countries across Africa, and the AFCON tournament itself will swell to a 28-team format.