section_path: Abstract
section_name: Abstract
paragraph_text: The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, also referred to as AFCON 2025 or CAN 2025, is scheduled to be the 35th edition of the biennial African football tournament organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It will be hosted by Morocco for the second time and the first since 1988. Morocco was originally scheduled to host the 2015 edition, but withdrew due to fears stemming from the Western African Ebola virus epidemic.
  
  Due to FIFA expanding its Club World Cup competition to 32 teams and having it scheduled for June and July that year, this edition of the tournament will be played between 21 December 2025 and 18 January 2026. The situation has been further complicated by the addition of two extra match days scheduled for the last two weeks of January in the expanded Champions League that begins this season in Europe.
  
  This edition of the tournament was scheduled to be the second after 2019 to take place during the northern hemisphere's summer (June-July), in order to reduce scheduling conflicts with European club teams and competitions; the previous 2023 edition was moved to January and February 2024 owing to the adverse summer weather conditions in Ivory Coast. Guinea was originally set as hosts for this edition of the tournament, but had its hosting rights stripped after affirming its inadequacy of hosting preparations. After a second bidding process, Morocco was named as the new hosts on 27 September 2023. Ivory Coast are the defending champions.