After Morocco successfully hosted the 2025 edition, the 36th edition will now be jointly hosted in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, and is scheduled to take place from June 19 to July 18.
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.
The edition will be part of the Africa Cup of Nations’ 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.
Hoima Stadium to host matches
Uganda Local Organising Committee (LOC) confirmed the dates which they confirmed have been approved by the Confederation of African Football.
Dennis K. Mugimba, who serves as the chair of the AFCON local communications and signage committee, further confirmed Uganda will have two primary competition stadia - Mandela National Stadium (Namboole) in Kira Municipality, Wakiso District and Hoima City Stadium in Hoima City for the AFCON.
In Kenya, the proposed host cities are Nairobi, Eldoret and Kakamega. Tanzania is expected to host matches in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Dodoma and Zanzibar.
The selection of these cities reflects an effort to balance existing football infrastructure with regional development objectives, as well as to ensure wider national representation across the three host countries.
The decision to announce the dates comes a week after the Kenyan government moved to meet key CAF deadline day requirements in regards to hosting the tournament.
Kenya was facing a March 30 deadline to pay Ksh3.9 billion ($30 million) fee for hosting the 2027 AFCON, with CAF officials warning the rights could be lost, while partners Tanzania and Uganda had already paid the required fee.
“I am pleased to announce the Government of Kenya has fully met its financial and institutional obligations to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as we steadily advance towards co-hosting the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON),” said Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Sports Salim Mvurya.
“In fulfilment of our commitments, the Government has remitted the requisite USD 30 million hosting fee to CAF, reaffirming Kenya’s credibility, readiness, and unwavering commitment to delivering a successful continental tournament.”
Uganda waive visa fees
Kenya further went ahead to reconstitute the Local Organising Committee (LOC), in what Mvurya confirmed as a new approach to ensure the institutional capacity is fully aligned with the scale, complexity, and urgency of preparations required to host a tournament of AFCON’s magnitude.
The Ugandan government has committed to waive the requirement for visa fees for all and any visitors to Uganda for a period of at least three months starting with one month prior to kick-off of 2027 AFCON up to one month after the final match.
Qualifying matches for the edition were held during the March FIFA international break with Burundi and Ethiopia, Somalia, and Eritrea booking their places in the next round of the qualifiers.
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.
