McKenzie confirms SA’s 2028 AFCON bid

In an exclusive interview with SABC Sport at the Four Seasons Hotel in Rabat, Morocco, McKenzie says this is part of the South African government’s plan to target international events to boost its economy.

SA (1996, 2013) and Angola (2010) are the only two Southern African countries to have hosted the AFCON in the tournament's history...

"The time has come, and I can tell you unapologetically that South Africa will be submitting a bid for the 2028 AFCON, and we will invite countries like Namibia and Botswana, and because we are neighbourly, we want to say to them, form part of our bid."

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There have been reports that Morocco could be in line again to host the AFCON in 2028, which would be the last one before the new four-year cycle kicks in, until 2032.

The deadline to submit interest in bidding for the AFCON closes on the first of next month, and McKenzie reveals they will move forward with their plans.

"North and Central Africa have been hosting this tournament, it's now time for Southern Africa-it's our turn!

"If we let this opportunity pass, it will be two decades of no AFCON hosting. We have the infrastructure, we have the human capital and everything else that's needed."

Southern Africa last hosted the AFCON in 2013, and since then it’s been to Central Africa (Equatorial Guinea 2015, Gabon 2017 and Cameroon 2019), West Africa (Ivory Coast 2023) and North Africa (Egypt 2019 and Morocco 2025).

With neighbours like Botswana and Namibia, short on improved infrastructure, McKenzie says this is an opportunity to partner with them.

The 2027 edition will be held in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania). SABC Sport understands that McKenzie has had to quickly mobilise meetings with his counterparts from Botswana and Namibia.

The bids will be submitted by the football federations from SA, Botswana and possibly Namibia, with the support of their respective governments. McKenzie says business-wise, this AFCON will also make sense...

"Some would say the time has come to stop playing small, we are not a small country, we are a great country, and we are not arrogant as we are willing to work together and be neighbourly. They are going to have to make a very strong case if the AFCON is not going to come to Southern Africa in 2028.

"The country is changing and the country is moving in the right direction. For the first time in a very long time, jobs are on the rise, we have the lowest record of inflation levels, and the rand is getting so much stronger."

SA’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has shown some growth recently, with a 0.5 per cent expansion in the third quarter of 2025.

This marks the fourth consecutive quarter of gains, and McKenzie says it presents the government with an opportunity to sustain the momentum.