Ethiopia has formally entered the race to host the 2028 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), marking its first attempt to bring the continent’s biggest football tournament back to the country in more than five decades.
The Ethiopian Football Federation confirmed the submission of its bid in a statement shared on X late Monday, declaring the country’s readiness to stage the prestigious competition.
“Ethiopia has formally submitted its bid to CAF to host AFCON 2028, reaffirming the nation’s full readiness to host Africa’s biggest footballing event,” the federation said.
Ethiopia last hosted the tournament in 1976 and is seeking to leverage its position as one of Africa’s most prominent nations, with a population of about 130 million people. Its capital, Addis Ababa, is also home to the headquarters of the African Union.
However, the country’s bid comes amid significant challenges, including security concerns linked to insurgencies in the Amhara and Oromia regions and fears of renewed conflict involving the federal government and the northern Tigray region.
On the football front, Ethiopia is currently ranked 143rd among 211 nations in the FIFA rankings. The national team last featured at AFCON in 2022, where it was eliminated in the group stage.
The 2028 tournament will also mark the beginning of a major change to AFCON’s calendar, with the competition set to move from its current biennial format to a four-year cycle in alignment with other major FIFA competitions.
Morocco hosted the most recent edition of the tournament, while Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are set to jointly stage the next AFCON.
Meanwhile, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have also indicated interest in hosting a future edition, with the three West African nations reportedly expressing a desire to co-host the 2032 tournament despite ongoing security challenges linked to jihadist violence.
