Ethiopia has formally submitted a bid to host the 2028 Africa Cup of Nations [1].
The move represents a significant effort to return the continent's premier football competition to the country after a long absence. Securing the hosting rights would allow Ethiopia to showcase its sporting infrastructure and passion for the game on a continental stage.
The Ethiopian Football Federation submitted the bid to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Tuesday [1, 2]. If successful, this would mark the first time the nation has hosted the tournament in 52 years [1]. Other reports specify the gap as more than 50 years [2].
Hosting the Africa Cup of Nations, commonly known as AFCON, involves coordinating venues and logistics for the top national teams in Africa. The bid aims to bring the event back to Ethiopia for the first time in more than five decades [3, 4].
Officials have entered the race to secure the 2028 tournament [2, 5]. The process will now move to the evaluation stage by CAF, which determines the host based on infrastructure, security, and organizational capacity [6].
Ethiopia has a storied history in African football, but the long interval since its last hosting duty has made this formal application a milestone for the federation [1]. The bid is part of a broader strategy to revitalize the sport within the country, and integrate more deeply with the continental football community [4].
“Ethiopia has formally submitted a bid to host the 2028 Africa Cup of Nations.”
A successful bid would signal a return to sporting prominence for Ethiopia and a desire to leverage major international events for national visibility. By targeting the 2028 tournament, the Ethiopian Football Federation is attempting to break a half-century drought in hosting AFCON, which requires significant investment in stadium upgrades and urban infrastructure to meet CAF standards.
