Five sporting events worth watching in 2025: from the Champions Cup to the African Cup of Nations | Cricket news

After an eventful year of sporting events that culminated in the Olympics and included two T20 Cricket World Cups and a Euro Championship, sports fans can look forward to another 12 months of thrilling action.

Amid dozens of high-profile tournaments spread across the calendar, Al Jazeera picks out the top five events to watch out for in 2025:

ICC Champions Cup (Pakistan and UAE): February 19 – March 9

After months of speculation and a tug-of-war between host nation Pakistan and neighboring India, the fate of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy has been decided. decided Less than two months before the opening match of the tournament.

The eight-team competition, which was last held in 2017 when Pakistan beat India in the final in London, will now be partly played in Dubai after India refused to play its matches in Pakistan.

World 50-over champions Australia, defending champions Pakistan and T20 champions India will be among the favorites when the action begins on February 19 in Karachi. The big match between Pakistan and India will be played in Dubai after the Indian government refused to send its team to Pakistan.

The 15-match tournament will be played in a round-robin format, with the top four winners advancing to the semi-finals on March 4 and 5 in Dubai and Lahore respectively. The final is scheduled to be held on Sunday, March 9, in Lahore but could be moved to Dubai if India qualifies.

Women’s European Championship (Switzerland): July 2-27

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup has been described as the event that “awakened…The sleeping giant“It has paved the way for women’s football. Two years later, women’s football will be back in the spotlight again with the UEFA Euro 2025 Women’s Championship in Switzerland.

World champion Spain will be the favorite to win the title that has eluded it in the 13 editions of the tournament, but defending champion England and record-holder Germany seven times will pose a strong challenge in the tournament in which 16 teams participate.

The tournament will be held in eight stadiums in the host country, with Thun hosting the opening match between Iceland and Finland, while the final will be held in Basel on July 27.

ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup (India): September – October

A year before the FIFA World Cup returns to North America after a 32-year break, the United States will host a revamped version of FIFA’s premier club competition.

In an attempt to boost the tournament’s profile and attract a wider audience, the Club World Cup was expanded to include the usual 32 top seven clubs from the regional associations. FIFA also made the event a quadrennial tournament, with the new Intercontinental Cup becoming an annual tournament.

The 2025 edition will be played in some of the stadiums designated to host the 2026 World Cup, with New Jersey hosting the finals of both tournaments.

Argentine star Lionel Messi’s club Inter Miami has entered the competition for the first time and will face global giants such as Real Madrid, Manchester City, Juventus, Fluminense, Boca Juniors and Bayern Munich.

The expansion of the tournament and its schedule during European football’s summer break has drawn criticism from players’ bodies and football experts. FIFA and the European Leagues Authority submitted a joint complaint to the European Commission against FIFA over the introduction of the tournament into the international match calendar.

Opponents of the new tournament said it adds more congestion to an already busy schedule and increases the workload on players.

ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup (India): September – October

Given its status as a global cricket powerhouse and the success of the Women’s Super League, India’s trophy cabinet in the Women’s World Cup remains surprisingly empty.

International stars and local household names like Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues will get a chance to break the drought when the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup returns to India in September 2025.

The South Asian nation has hosted the tournament twice – in 1997 and 2013 – but at a time when women’s cricket did not have the recognition it does now.

The full list of teams, venues and final schedule for the 2025 edition have yet to be confirmed. Record seven-time champions Australia will be favorites to extend their hold on the cup, but four-time winners England and hosts India will look to knock the holders out of their perch.

Under the new hosting agreement between India and Pakistan, the Women in Green will play their matches at a neutral venue if they qualify for the tournament.

African Cup of Nations (Morocco): December 21, 2025 – January 18, 2026

Arguably the biggest sporting competition on the African continent, the Africa Cup of Nations will be held twice a year in Morocco for the second time from December 2025 to January 2026.

The hosts of the 2030 World Cup will look to make the most of their home advantage in their bid to win their second Africa Cup of Nations title since 1976, but standing in their way will be the region’s giants: Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal and Egypt.

The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in June and July, but with the revised Club World Cup taking its place, the Africa Cup of Nations was moved to the end of the year.

Six cities: Rabat, Fez, Casablanca, Marrakesh, Tangier and Agadir will host the games.