The 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men’s football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), is scheduled to be hosted by Egypt.

The competition will be held from June 21st to July 19th, 2019. It will be the first Africa Cup of Nations expanded from 16 to 24 teams.

Format

Only the hosts will receive an automatic qualification spot, the other 23 teams will qualify through a qualification tournament. At the finals, the 24 teams will be drawn into six groups of four teams each. The teams in each group play a single round robin. After the group stage, the top two teams and the four best third teams will advance to the round of 16. The winners will advance to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals. The semifinal losers will play in third place match, while semifinal winners will play in final.

The format is exactly the one which was applied to the 1986, 1990, and 1994 FIFA World Cups, as well as UEFA Euro 2016.

Hosting Cities

1- Cairo City

2- Alexandria City

3- Suez City

4- Port Said City

5- Ismailia City

Venues

With the Africa Cup of Nations expanded to 24 teams, six venues will be used.

1- Cairo City: Cairo Stadium 80.000 seats

2- Cairo City: Al-Salam Stadium 30.000 seats

3- Alexandria City: Alexandria Stadium 20.000 seats

4- Alexandria City: Burj Al-Arab Stadium 86.000 seats

5- Suez City: Army Stadium 45.000 seats

6- Port Said City: El-Masry Stadium 24.000 seats

7- Ismailia City: Ismailia Stadium 18.000 seats