September 23: Streaming giant DAZN has strengthened its sports portfolio in Germany, Austria and Switzerland by adding competitions from the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
DAZN will show the 2027 African Cup of Nations and the 2026-27 CAF Champions League. In doing so, it has eliminated rival Sportdigital, which has been running the 24-team tournament since 2021. DAZN hosted the 2019 edition, and even during Sportdigital’s run, AFCON was available on DAZN via a cart deal.
The most recent AFCON featured 17 players based in Germany, and 2027 should be no different, with the likes of Ismael Saibari, Bilal el-Khannouss, Ibrahim Maza and Edmond Tapsoba likely to be involved.
With the 2027 Asian Cup falling in January and February, and the Gold Cup’s North American time zone taking it out of European prime time, the AFCON will be soccer’s only major property during the summer break.
The 2027 edition will take place from June 19 to July 17 in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, instead of the usual time slot in January. From then on, under FIFA’s new international calendar, AFCON will controversially move to a four-year cycle instead of every two years.
Senegal went on to win the last final, only for beaten finalists Morocco to be handed the trophy weeks later after a chaotic game saw Senegal leave the field midway through the game. Both now claim the title, which would make a rematch in 2027 a blockbuster.
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