Top African Sports Events to Watch in 2025

It looks like 2025 will be a historic year for African sports. The legendary football tournaments, basketball fixtures, up-and-coming youth championships and historic international events prove that the calendar would be stirring excitement from fans around the continent.

Sport Blot reports the Top African Sports Events to watch in 2025 with dates, locations, important highlights, and reasons why each is not to be missed.

7. Region V U/20 Games 2025

Namibia will host the Region V U/20 Games 2025. The games will be held in Namibia's capital, Windhoek, from July 4 to July 13. The COSAFA Under-20 championships for men and women will also be held during these matches. 

The Region V Games, which emphasise youth development, include swimming, boxing, football, judo, karate, netball, and athletics. Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and South Africa are among the participating nations.

The football competitions, comprising the Under-20 men's and women's championships, will be hosted by COSAFA.

Stars are born here. The tournament places a strong emphasis on regional cooperation, sportsmanship, and talent development.

6. African U20 Athletics Championships 2025

Stars like David Rudisha and Caster Semenya have emerged from the U20 Athletics Championships, a crucial stage for spotting future Olympians.

The 100 and 200-meter sprints promise to showcase incredible young athletes from South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.

The event will also feature high jumps, javelin throw, long jumps, shotput, among others, from July 14 – July 18, 2025.

You are seeing the emergence of future global champions. Every race is captivating because of the desire for Olympic gold, the talent, and the hunger.

5. FIBA AfroBasket 2025

The FIBA AfroBasket, an African men's basketball continental tournament, will be in its 31st year in 2025. From August 12 to 24, Angola will host the competition for the fourth time.

Having won the competitions in 2017 and 2021, Tunisia is the two-time reigning champion.

23 African teams participated in the qualification, including hosts Angola, and 16 nations have qualified for the final tournament, which will be competing for the title.

4. Basketball Africa League (BAL) 2025 Season

The BAL has revolutionised the African basketball scene with support from the NBA and FIBA. Twelve top club teams from nations like Angola, Rwanda, Egypt, Nigeria, and Tunisia are competing in the 2025 season.

The fifth season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) kicked off on April 5th 2025, with the 12 teams competing across three conferences, Kalahari, Sahara, and Nile, in a 12-game group phase with each team playing the other three teams in their conference twice.

Following the group round, the top eight teams from each conference will go to Pretoria, South Africa, for four seeding matches before playing in the eight-game, single-elimination playoffs. The finals will then take place from 6-14 June.

The competition has garnered increased broadcast reach across ESPN, NBA TV, and Canal+. Also, the rising stars at the  BAL have the potential to make the NBA draft.

3. FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2025 

Seychelles is currently hosting the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, which kicked off on May 1st, making it the first African country to do so. High-octane action and spectacular images are guaranteed at this event, which has a picturesque coastline setting and enthusiastic supporters.

Senegal, the dominant beach football nation in Africa, clinched their second victory after defeating Tahiti 6-3 in their second Group C match.

Brazil and Italy, two consistent international challengers, faced off against each other, with Brazil emerging victorious in a hard-fought 2-1 victory.

Set among turquoise waves and pristine shores, it's football with style. Much more beach party atmosphere, exciting finishes, and an abundance of goals are to be expected. The tournament ends on May 11, 2025.

2. Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) 2025

WAFCON 2025 is at the forefront of the rapidly expanding African women's football scene. Conventional heavyweights like Cameroon's Indomitable Lionesses and Nigeria's Super Falcons will present fierce competition for the reigning champions, South Africa's Banyana Banyana.

Morocco will also be hosting the WAFCON 2025, making it the first African country to host both the men's and women’s continental competitions in the same year. The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations is scheduled for July 5 – July 26, 2025.

The WAFCON will be attracting global interest since African teams performed exceptionally strong at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

Joining the host nation, Morocco, are the defending champions, South Africa, Algeria, Ghana, Botswana, DR Congo, Tunisia, Senegal, Zambia, Tanzania, Mali, and Nigeria.

1. Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025

The Africa Cup of Nations is the continent’s biggest sporting event, and Morocco will be hosting the 35th Edition for the first time since 1988 after Guinea was stripped as host due to inadequacies and the speed of progress in hosting preparations.

The tournament will pit 24 elite national teams against one another at nine different locations in six different cities, running from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026.

Fans are already buzzing with excitement as they look forward to seeing high-calibre stars like Victor Osimhen, Mohamed Salah and Achraf Hakimi each representing their country.

Since Morocco had quite an interesting run in the 2022 FIFA World Cup up until their elimination in the semifinals, their aspiration to triumph domestically will be high. Anticipate shocks as emerging countries like Burkina Faso and Mali make significant appearances.