The 33rd edition of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021) is scheduled to take place between the 9 of January and the 6 of February 2021.
Afcon 2021 will be hosted in Cameroon.
Originally, Afcon 2021 was scheduled for june and july. However, the date was latter changed due to unfavorable climate conditions during this time. In addition to meteorological reasons, the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations will coincide with the new and enlarged format of the FIFA Club World Cup which kicks off in June 2021.
Since 1960, the tournament was always held during winter or early spring, mainly due to climate reasons and to avoid conflict with other international tournaments or club competitions, but it was changed last year when Egypt hosted the first summer tournament.
The move back to winter will affect the likes of Liverpool, who could have Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Sadio Mané (Senegal) and Naby Keïta (Guinea) missing.
Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon) and Nicolas Pépé (Ivory Coast) are also likely to feature, with Manchester City, Manchester United and Leicester among other Premier League clubs who may be without first-team players.
A total of 24 teams will compete in the final tournament. Only the hosts will receive an automatic qualification spot, the other 23 teams will qualify through a qualification tournament. At the finals, the 24 teams will be drawn into six groups of four teams each.
The teams in each group play a single round robin. After the group stage, the top two teams from each group and the best third teams will advance to the round of 16. The winners will advance to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals. The semifinal losers will play in third place match, while semifinal winners will play in final.
The six stadiums selected to host matches are:
the Paul Biya Stadium
the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in the capital Yaounde
the Japoma Stadium in Douala
the Limbe Stadium in Limbe
the Kouekong Stadium in Bafoussam
the Roumde Adjia Stadium in Garoua.
The opening ceremony as well as the opening match of the tournament and the final are set to take place at the newly built 60 000 seater Paul Biya Stadium in Yaounde. These six venues are also the same that would have been used for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations had Cameroon not been stripped to host the tournament.
Afcon 2021 will be hosted in Cameroon.
Originally, Afcon 2021 was scheduled for june and july. However, the date was latter changed due to unfavorable climate conditions during this time. In addition to meteorological reasons, the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations will coincide with the new and enlarged format of the FIFA Club World Cup which kicks off in June 2021.
Since 1960, the tournament was always held during winter or early spring, mainly due to climate reasons and to avoid conflict with other international tournaments or club competitions, but it was changed last year when Egypt hosted the first summer tournament.
The move back to winter will affect the likes of Liverpool, who could have Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Sadio Mané (Senegal) and Naby Keïta (Guinea) missing.
Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon) and Nicolas Pépé (Ivory Coast) are also likely to feature, with Manchester City, Manchester United and Leicester among other Premier League clubs who may be without first-team players.
A total of 24 teams will compete in the final tournament. Only the hosts will receive an automatic qualification spot, the other 23 teams will qualify through a qualification tournament. At the finals, the 24 teams will be drawn into six groups of four teams each.
The teams in each group play a single round robin. After the group stage, the top two teams from each group and the best third teams will advance to the round of 16. The winners will advance to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals. The semifinal losers will play in third place match, while semifinal winners will play in final.
Stadiums to host Afcon 2021 in Cameroon
With the Africa Cup of Nations expanded from 16 to 24 teams, at least six venues are expected to be used and in this way matches will take place in six venues across the five Cameroonian cities of Yaounde, Douala, Garoua, Limbe and Bafoussam.The six stadiums selected to host matches are:
the Paul Biya Stadium
the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in the capital Yaounde
the Japoma Stadium in Douala
the Limbe Stadium in Limbe
the Kouekong Stadium in Bafoussam
the Roumde Adjia Stadium in Garoua.
The opening ceremony as well as the opening match of the tournament and the final are set to take place at the newly built 60 000 seater Paul Biya Stadium in Yaounde. These six venues are also the same that would have been used for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations had Cameroon not been stripped to host the tournament.
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