CAF to hold major strategy conference in Cape Verde ahead of 2030 World Cup

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) will hold a major Strategy Conference in Cape Verde from 7 to 9 October 2026 as it seeks to build on Africa’s performance at the 2026 Fifa World Cup and strengthen the long-term development of the game on the continent.

The three-day meeting will bring together key figures from across African football, with presidents of CAF’s 54 Member Associations, coaches, members of the CAF Executive Committee, Fifa officials and other senior football leaders expected to attend.

A central focus of the conference will be how African football can become more competitive at the highest level while also developing structures that allow the sport to become financially sustainable.

CAF is expected to examine ways of making football across its 54 Member Associations more “world-class and self-sustaining”, with discussions likely to cover the development of domestic competitions, football administration, technical structures and the wider growth of the game.

The conference comes after the 2026 Fifa World Cup, which will provide an important reference point for assessing the progress of African football.

Ten African nations will have featured at the expanded 2026 World Cup, giving CAF an opportunity to assess the continent’s overall performance against teams from other confederations.

Lessons from the tournament will form a major part of the discussions, with CAF expected to consider what worked for the participating African teams and where improvements are required.

The experiences of the 10 World Cup representatives could also help shape the continent’s approach to the 2030 tournament, which will be staged across Morocco, Portugal and Spain, with three centenary matches in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

CAF’s longer-term objective will be to ensure that Africa’s increased representation at the World Cup is matched by greater success on the pitch.

The conference will therefore look beyond participation and focus on how African teams can consistently compete for the latter stages of the competition.

Technical development is expected to be an important element of those discussions, with coaches and football administrators among those due to participate.

The presence of national association presidents will also provide an opportunity to examine the different challenges facing football across the continent, from grassroots development and youth systems to infrastructure, domestic leagues and financial sustainability.

For CAF, the conference represents an opportunity to bring together the continent’s leading football stakeholders and establish a common direction for the next phase of development.

The discussions in Cape Verde are expected to help shape strategies for the period leading to the 2030 World Cup, while also addressing the broader ambition of creating stronger and more sustainable football structures across Africa.

With 54 Member Associations operating in very different football environments, one of the key challenges will be finding strategies that can improve standards across the continent while taking account of the varying levels of infrastructure, investment and technical development.

The conference will consequently provide a platform for CAF and its members to assess the progress made so far and identify areas requiring further investment and reform.

The outcome of the three-day meeting could provide an important roadmap for African football as CAF looks to build on the momentum of the 2026 World Cup and translate increased World Cup representation into sustained international success.