Countdown to CHAN 2024: can South Africa surprise everyone?
Also known as CHAN 2024, we are just days away from the beginning of one of Africa's most interesting international football competitions. The biennial tournament should have occurred in February 2025, but CAF postponed it for August 2-30, 2025.
Even though the tournament will be held in 2025, it is often referred to as the 2024 African Nations Championship. This is because it was originally scheduled for 2024, but due to logistical and unstructured issues, the organizers postponed it to 2025.
The event has much to offer, and football fans worldwide can expect many intriguing clashes, especially around South Africa. The team's in an interesting position and can surprise everyone, but before we see what happens, let's learn more about the upcoming event.
What is the African Nations Championship and what happened in the last event
The African Nations Championship is a biennial tournament organised by CAF (Confederation of African Football). It's an international tournament in Africa, but unlike the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), for example, this one has an interesting twist - it only features players playing in their country's respective leagues. In other words, the tournament does not feature footballers playing abroad.
Although some may find this condition disappointing, it is what sets CHAN apart from any other football tournament. Since teams can't use all of their players, fans can see many new names in action.
The first-ever CHAN was in 2009, and it only included 8 teams. Following the initial success, CAF increased the teams to 16, and for the current event, we will have a total of 19 teams.
Football fans who followed the last African Nations Championship remember that it occurred between January and February 2023. It included 17 teams, and after a fierce battle, Senegal clinched their first CHAN title. The team defeated Algeria (the host at the time) on penalties.
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CHAN 2024 - What to expect
Moving on to the current 2024 African Nations Championship, the event will be held in three countries: Kenya
Tanzania
Uganda
We will have 19 teams in total that will play in the Group Stage, Knockout Rounds, and the Final, which will be in Kampala on August 30, 2025. Speaking of Kampala, Uganda, will host the Grand Final at the Mandela National Stadium, but this is not the biggest stadium. That honor goes to Nairobi's Moi International Sports Complex, which can seat up to 65,000 people.
In terms of participating teams, we will have the following: Morocco
Guinea
Senegal
Mauritania
Niger
Burkina Faso
Nigeria
DR Congo
Central African Republic
Congo
Kenya
Tanzania
Uganda
Sudan
Zambia
Angola
Madagascar
Algeria
South Africa
Group stage and South Africa's chances
Following CAF's announcement on June 27, 2025, we know the names of all the teams in the four Groups at CHAN 2024. Here's a brief overview of each group (interestingly, the last one has 4 teams, whereas the rest have 5). Remember that only the top two will advance to the quarterfinals.
Group A Kenya
Morocco
Angola
DR Congo
Zambia
Group B Tanzania
Madagascar
Mauritania
Burkina Faso
Central African Republic
Group C Uganda
Niger
Algeria
Guinea
South Africa
Group D Senegal
Congo
Sudan
Nigeria
As you can see, every group has something to offer. Users wishing to know more about the South African squad's winning chances, their top performers, all the highlights about the other teams, their perspectives, and much more can check the Efirbet SA soccer news article, which provides in-depth coverage of the topic.
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