After Morocco successfully hosted the 2025 edition, the 36th edition will be jointly co-hosted in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, and is scheduled to take place from June 19th to July 18th.
This will mark the first time three East African nations will co-host the continent’s biggest football showpiece, and the first in five decades to be organised in the CECAFA region, since it was hosted by Ethiopia in 1976.
During the 2025 edition, Morocco established new benchmarks for hosting the edition with Motsepe stating after the tournament the North African country had raised the standards “very, very high” for the continent.
Morocco set a record by using nine stadiums across six cities (Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, Marrakech, Agadir, and Fes) for the 24-team tournament, expanding beyond the traditional six-venue model.
The tournament featured advanced logistics, including high-speed rail linking host cities, dedicated training grounds for every team, and five-star accommodation.
With this in mind, the CAF supremo has called on Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, not to allow the standards set by Morocco drop even by an inch, adding he had confidence the 2027 edition will also be successful.
‘East Africa have high standards to maintain’
“You see, Morocco has raised the standard. It has raised the standard, and I'm not just happy, I’m proud of that. So, the next AFCON, you have a high standard to come up to and to maintain,” said Motsepe as quoted by Pulse Sports.
“That’s why I took the Exco to Tanzania after the AFCON to say to them, I have confidence in you and we’re going to work together and make a change because I need to develop football in East Africa.
“I need to develop football throughout the continent in every single one of the zones in Africa, in every single one of the 54 nations in Africa.”
The tournament in Morocco saw record ticket sales and the launch of official Fan Parks with free access to, enhancing the “We Are Different” theme. Overall, it generated substantial commercial success, leading to a reported 90% surge in competition revenues and attracting 23 sponsors.
In an effort to have East Africa host a successful edition, Motsepe confirmed he will soon visit Kenya for a meeting with the head of state, which he said he will use to inspect infrastructure.
Motsepe set to visit Kenya
“I'll be going to Kenya. There's a meeting of heads of state, and I wasn't going to go there because there was a conflict on that date. But when some of the heads of state asked me to be there, I had no choice but to rearrange and be in Kenya on May 12,” offered Motsepe.
“I’m going to use that visit to look at the infrastructure. There’s a team from CAF that is based in East Africa, because you know, in life, you reap what you sow, you work very hard, you succeed.
“You are paranoid and obsessed with success, you increase the chances of success, and we are very clear about the very high standards we set for ourselves, so I’m clear that we’re going to succeed there in Tanzania, in Kenya and Uganda.”
The 2027 edition will be part of AFCON’s 70th anniversary, and will be the last one to be held in odd-numbered years, as CAF announced in December 2025 that AFCON would become a quadrennial tournament from 2028 onwards.
The hosting of AFCON comes after Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania co-hosted the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in February 2025. In the final, Morocco beat Madagascar 3-2, claiming their third CHAN title in six years.
