Overview
- Morocco hosts the Africa Cup of Nations from December 21 to January 18 with 24 teams playing across six cities.
- FIFA pushed the player-release window back by one week from December 8, saying it sought to reduce disruption, drawing public criticism from coaches including Mali’s Tom Sainfiet and Angola’s Patrice Beaumelle.
- Bayer Leverkusen will be without Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza, Eliesse Ben Seghir and Christian Kofane, RB Leipzig lose Yan Diomande, Augsburg miss Samuel Essende, Elias Saad and Ismael Gharbi, and Eintracht Frankfurt are without Farès Chaibi and Ellyes Skhiri.
- In Germany, Sportdigital will broadcast all 52 matches live with most on its pay channel, and the Morocco–Comoros opener on December 21 will stream free on YouTube and on Scooore.
- The schedule includes matches on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, and Ivory Coast enter as defending champions.