One of African football’s founding nations has thrown its hat into the ring to host the 2028 edition of the continent’s flagship football competition, the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). Ethiopia’s football governing body, the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF), confirmed that its government-endorsed bid to host the 2028 tournament formally asserts the East African country is fully prepared to welcome Africa’s largest sporting event.
Ethiopia’s history with Afcon stretches back to the tournament’s earliest days: it claimed the continental title on home soil in 1962, and went on to host again in 1968 and 1976, marking three total host stints in the competition’s history. Despite this deep legacy, the country’s modern football infrastructure has fallen far behind that of many other African nations, creating major uncertainty around its 2028 bid.
As recently as last season, Ethiopia had only one stadium that met the Confederation of African Football (Caf)’s strict standards for international competition. Currently, the country is putting the finishing touches on a new international stadium and multi-purpose sports complex in its capital, Addis Ababa, which will serve as a core venue if the bid is successful. But a 24-team Afcon requires multiple compliant venues spread across host locations, and that remains a significant unmet need for Ethiopia.
Industry reports indicate that most of the country’s existing regional football facilities do not meet Fifa or Caf requirements for infrastructure, player amenities, and match-day operations. Even in recent World Cup qualifying, Ethiopia was forced to play its 2026 Fifa World Cup home qualifying matches at neutral venues in Morocco and Rwanda, though it did successfully host smaller matches in Dire Dawa earlier this year. Only one current Ethiopian venue, the 52,000-seat Bahir Dar Stadium in the country’s north, holds current Caf approval. The new 62,000-capacity Adey Abeba International Stadium in Addis Ababa is on track to be completed in 2025, but three other proposed host venues remain in early development and would require massive rushed upgrades to meet 2028 deadlines.
Beyond stadium construction, hosting a major international tournament requires robust support infrastructure: adequate training facilities, athlete accommodation, entertainment options for fans, reliable urban transportation, and consistent security. Security, in particular, stands out as a top concern for the bid. While Addis Ababa remains relatively stable, multiple regions across Ethiopia continue to face armed conflict, political unrest, and other persistent security threats that would need to be addressed before the tournament.
Ethiopia’s men’s national team, nicknamed the Walia Ibex, currently sits 143rd in the global FIFA rankings and 43rd among African nations. The side has only qualified for Afcon three times since it last hosted the tournament in 1976, with its most recent appearance coming at the delayed 2021 edition, where it finished at the bottom of its group without earning a single win. For the 2025 Afcon, Ethiopia defeated Sao Tome and Principe in the preliminary qualifying round and has been drawn into Group J alongside defending champions Senegal, Mozambique, and Sudan.
Ethiopia is not the only contender for the 2028 hosting rights. Earlier this year, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe announced a joint four-nation Southern African bid for the tournament. Despite widespread speculation that Morocco, the already confirmed host of the 2025 Afcon, could move up to host 2028 as well, BBC Sport Africa has confirmed that Morocco will not submit a bid, opting instead to focus its resources on co-hosting the 2030 Fifa World Cup.
Caf president Patrice Motsepe confirmed last month that the confederation has received multiple “exciting bids” for the 2028, 2032, and 2036 Afcon tournaments. Notably, the 2028 edition will be the last held on the current two-year cycle, after which the tournament will shift to a once-every-four-years format. Three West African nations led by military governments — Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger — have already announced their joint intent to bid for the 2032 edition.
The 2027 Afcon is already scheduled to be co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda from June 19 to July 17 2026, marking the first time Afcon has returned to East Africa since Ethiopia last hosted in 1976. Ethiopia’s bid has drawn mixed reactions from football stakeholders across the continent, with many supporters celebrating the chance to return the tournament to one of its founding homes, while critics continue to question whether the country can address infrastructure and security gaps in time for 2028.