Last week, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the start of the bidding process for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in 2026, 2027, and 2028, as well as the U-20 tournament in 2027, 2029, and 2031.
The Executive Committee met in Morocco and also approved a new format for the U-17 AFCON 2025 qualifiers, increasing the number of teams from 12 to 16.
The CAF Executive Committee has also decided to open the bidding process for the Women’s Champions League 2025, 2026, and 2027.
Zambia previously hosted a CAF tournament, the 2017 U-20 AFCON, which they won. The tournament produced the majority of the senior Chipolopolo Boys, including Patson Daka, Edward Chilufya, Fashion Sakala, and Emmanuel Banda, who made their breakthrough after shining at the junior AFCON.
With the bidding process now open, it is unclear whether Zambia is interested in hosting any of the tournaments following the government’s statement made by President Hakainde Hichilema in 2023, which encouraged sports federations to bid for international tournaments.
FAZ bid to host the senior AFCON in 2025 and 2027 but was unsuccessful. This brought the number of failed bids to nine. They were successful in their first attempt in 1988, but due to the country’s economic constraints, they lost their hosting rights.
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