The unveiling of the host nations for the next three editions will be made known at the CAF Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday, September 27 in Cairo.

These announcements have been highly anticipated for nearly a year, beginning with CAF’s decision to revoke Guinea’s hosting rights for the 2025 finals in October 2022.

CAF then revealed plans to designate the hosts for the 2027 and the 2029 finals simultaneously.

However, sources say Morocco will be awarded the hosting rights of the 2025 edition, Senegal will win that of 2027, and a Nigeria and Benin joint bid will get the 2029 hosting rights.

The decision to strip Guinea of the 2025 tournament stemmed from CAF’s assessment that the nation was significantly behind in its preparations for the 24-team tournament.

Subsequently, CAF initiated a process to reopen the bidding, with plans to make a selection early in 2023.

However, the final decision has been repeatedly postponed.

Bids were submitted for the 2025 finals by Algeria, Morocco, Zambia, and a joint bid from Benin and Nigeria.

For the 2027 AFCON, bids came from Algeria, Botswana, Egypt, and a collaborative candidacy from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

CAF conducted thorough evaluations, including sending assessment teams to all bidding countries and appointing an independent assessor to oversee the inspections.

Nevertheless, the ultimate decision on the hosts rests with the CAF Executive Committee.

The history of hosting the Africa Cup of Nations in the past decade has seen various challenges and shifts, including South Africa stepping in to replace war-torn Libya in 2013.

Cameroon’s readiness for the 2019 finals was questioned, leading to Egypt hosting the tournament. Cameroon successfully hosted the 2021 edition, delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cote d’Ivoire was initially set to host the 2023 AFCON but was postponed by six months due to concerns about the rainy season in West Africa.

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The 2021 tournament was held in Cameroon in January and February this year, in the middle of the European season, to avoid the rainy season in the Central African nation.

The timing of the Nations Cup has led to repeated disputes with clubs who have been forced to release players, and the issue will persist after the 2023 finals in Ivory Coast were moved to early 2024 because of weather concerns.

Napoli owner and president Aurelio de Laurentiis said the Italian club would avoid signing any more Africans unless they agree not to play in the biennial tournament – with Senegal coach Aliou Cisse hitting back that international football should never play second fiddle to club commitments.

Eto’o, who had spells at Real Madrid, Barcelona and Inter Milan and won the Nations Cup twice with the Indomitable Lions, has backed Cisse’s stance.

“We are Africans – nobody else can defend our continent better than ourselves,” Eto’o, who is now president of Cameroon’s football federation (Fecafoot), told BBC Sport Africa.

“Before the Nations Cup in Cameroon, I said that it’s important to play in January-February, something that obviously didn’t please some other people.

“But this is a fact in Africa. We have the rainy season in June, July, August, even early September in our continent. It’s just a matter of getting on the same page with others and explaining things.”

“I am rather happy to see children of this continent being aware that nobody else will defend our continent for us.”

However, Eto’o says that staging this year’s World Cup in the middle of the European season shows that concessions can be made by clubs.

Players must be released for the finals in Qatar on 14 November, with the first match six days later and the final on 18 December.

England’s Premier League will have its last pre-World Cup fixtures on the weekend of 12-13 November, and then resume on 26 December.

“We can notice for the first time in history that the World Cup will be played in November and December,” Eto’o, 41, said.

“It’s possible to make it happen.”

The Black Stars after two matches played in the 2024 Afcon qualifiers sit top of Group C with 4 points.

Ghana will continue their qualifiers with a doubleheader against Angola next year ahead of the tournament that will be held in Ivory Coast.

Having completed their nationality switch to play for the West African country, some of the players have been described as an opportunist but Williams has insisted he is ready and committed to play for the country.

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“I will be available for the Nations Cup, that’s why I made the choice,” Williams told BBC.

“We valued that the next editions will be in the winter, but at the end of the day, many European clubs lose their best players.

“Representing the country my parents are from and the country where I feel very loved, I will try to give everything for Ghana.”

Asked if his decision would have been different if he had to choose between Ghana and Spain, Williams replied: “I don’t know. The choice I made is Ghana, for my family, for myself, for everything they have shown me the last few months.”