Starting from 11 October, Ismailia, Egypt will play host to the Men’s and Women’s Africa Cup of Nations 2025 – Africa’s premier hockey tournament running 11-18 October – with the champions punching their tickets to the FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium & Netherlands 2026.

Tournament Format & Teams

There are six participating teams in the men’s competition: South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana and Zambia.

The women’s competition will see five teams shoot for gold: South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and Ghana.

Both men’s and women’s tournaments will feature an initial round-robin stage with all teams facing off against each other in a single pool. After the league stage standings are finalised, medal matches will follow, which will pit the top two teams in the gold medal match and the third and fourth placed teams in a bronze medal game.

The winner of each competition (men and women) will secure a spot at the FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium and Netherlands 2026.

Match Schedule

The round-robin matches in both men’s and women’s competitions will be played from 11 to 17 October, followed by the medal matches on 18 October.

The men’s match between Ghana and Kenya will get the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 up and running in Ismailia. All six men’s teams will be in action on the opening day with South Africa facing Zambia in the second match, before hosts Egypt take the field in the final encounter of the day against Nigeria.

In the women’s competition it will be Kenya taking on Nigeria in the opening match on 11 October, followed by Ghana facing off against hosts Egypt.

The bronze and gold medal matches in both competitions will be played on 18 October.

For more information about the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 and the complete match schedule click here.

World Cup Qualification

The winner of the Men’s Africa Cup of Nations 2025 will become the ninth team to qualify for the men’s FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium and Netherlands 2026. Belgium and Netherlands, on account of being hosts of the event, gained direct qualification. Australia and Spain qualified through the previous two editions of the FIH Hockey Pro League. Argentina secured qualification through the Pan American Cup, Germany qualified from the Eurohockey Championship, New Zealand qualified through the Oceania Cup and India qualified through the Asia Cup. The winner of the Africa Cup of Nations will become the final direct qualifier for the men’s event, with the remaining seven teams qualifying through the FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers in 2026.

Based on their performance at the Pan American Cup, the EuroHockey Championships and the Asia Cup, the following men’s teams have qualified for the FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers 2026: USA, Canada, Chile, France, England, Austria, Poland, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, China, Japan, Korea and Malaysia. One team from Africa and the winner of the three-match series between Pakistan and Bangladesh will complete the line-up.

The winner of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations 2025 will become the ninth team to qualify for the women’s FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium and Netherlands 2026. Belgium and Netherlands, on account of being hosts of the event, gained direct qualification. Germany and Argentina qualified through the previous two editions of the FIH Hockey Pro League. USA secured qualification through the Pan American Cup, Spain qualified from the Eurohockey Championship, New Zealand qualified through the Oceania Cup and China qualified through the Asia Cup. The winner of the Africa Cup of Nations will become the final direct qualifier for the women’s event, with the remaining seven teams qualifying through the FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers in 2026.

Based on their performance at the Pan American Cup, EuroHockey Championships, Oceania Cup and Asia Cup the following women’s teams have qualified for the FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers 2026: Uruguay, Chile, Canada, Ireland, England, France, Italy, Wales, Scotland, Austria, Switzerland, Australia, India, Japan, Korea and Malaysia.

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