My first stage is sport explained to children. Here, we answer all their questions, we decipher the rules, we tell the stories of great athletes, we learn everything about sport. In this 5-episode series, we focus on the CAN, on the occasion of the 35th edition which takes place in Morocco from December 21, 2025 to January 18, 2026.
Rokhaya, 10 years old and young listener of RFI in Saint Louis in Senegal, is interested in the CAN and more precisely in its trophies.
In 68 years of existence, the CAN has in fact had 3 different trophies. It is less than the Golden Cup in North and Central America and its 4 trophies but more than the European Cup which made only one change. Or that the Copa America, the South American competition which has retained its original trophy.
Why these changes?
The Confederation of African Football applied the “win it, keep it” rule. The first team to win the CAN 3 times could keep the trophy. It therefore had to be replaced for the next edition.
It is Ghana, which thanks to its 3 coronations in 1963, 1965 and 1978, is the first nation to win the competition 3 times and can therefore keep the trophy. It was the very first CAN trophy, created in 1957 and named in tribute to Abdelaziz Abdallah Salem, first president of the African Football Confederation and great architect of the CAN.
Next comes the “African unity” trophy, created for the 1980 CAN and kept by Cameroon after its 3 victories at the CAN in 1984, 1988 and 2000.
For the last trophy, change of rules. This time, the winning countries of the CAN leave with a response. A way of maintaining continuity and making the trophy a symbol of identity for the African competition.
But the history of the CAN trophies has seen some twists and turns along the way…
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