Football Language: AFCON
In this football language post we explain the term ‘AFCON’ which is the name of the main tournament for national sides in Africa. Don’t forget we have hundreds more explanations of football language in our football glossary and we also have a page full of football cliches. If you have questions or comments about this or any other phrase then email us at: admin@languagecaster.com.
AFCON
There are six confederations in world football and the one that looks after African football is known as CAF which stands for the Confederation of African football. They also organise the continent’s national team tournament which is held every two years and is known as the African Cup of Nations or AFCON for short.
The first time the tournament was held was in 1957 when only three times participated but now 24 teams take part. Egypt are the most successful side with seven titles followed by Cameroon with five wins, while 15 different sides have won at least one AFCON title.
- Example: The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has kicked off, with Ivory Coast staging the finals for the second time (BBC.co.uk, January 19 2024)
- Example: The president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has said there will be a “zero tolerance” approach to ensuring stadiums are safe at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), which kicks off in January. (BBC.co.uk, October 13 2023)
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