Continental titles are up for grabs in men's and women's football in 2025, while Rwanda will host some of the world's top cyclists.

African athletes are looking to break old records, while new talent will have its chance to make an impression on the global stage.

Get your calendar ready as BBC Sport Africa picks out some of the key dates for action over the next 12 months.

Football fever in North Africa

All eyes will be on Morocco as the kingdom stages the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon), its male equivalent (Afcon) and the Under-17 Women's World Cup.

After being delayed because of the Olympic Games, the 2024 Wafcon will be held from 5-26 July.

South Africa will defend the trophy as Morocco, runners-up last time out, and Zambia both seek their first continental title and Nigeria aim to regain the crown. Botswana and Tanzania will make just their second appearance at the finals.

For the men, there will be almost a full year of anticipation ahead of the 2025 Afcon, which will kick off on 21 December and culminate on 18 January 2026.

Ivory Coast travel to North Africa as holders but the pressure will be on the hosts given the Atlas Lions are the continent's top-ranked side and clinched their one and only title back in 1976.

Race to the World Cup

The next 12 months will be big for continental football as the African Nations Championship (1-28 February), the competition for domestic-based players, will test how far along co-hosts Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are in their preparations for the 2027 Afcon.

After that, competition will intensify to become one of the nine African sides guaranteed a place at the expanded 2026 Fifa World Cup.

Six rounds of qualifying remain, spread evenly across March, September and October. Only the group winners will book a spot in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Sudan's footballers qualified for the 2025 Afcon despite being affected by civil war, and remain in the running for a place at the 2026 World Cup

Comoros, Rwanda and Sudan - all surprise table-toppers - are chasing what would be historic first appearances at the finals.

Play-offs in November will then send one further African nation through to an intercontinental qualifier in 2026 for a final chance to reach the 48-team tournament.

In the club game, Fifa's inaugural 32-team Club World Cup (15 June to 13 July) will be held in the United States. Al Ahly, Wydad Casablanca, Mamelodi Sundowns and Esperance Tunis are bidding to upset European and South American heavyweights.

The Africa Football League is expected to return with an expanded format, while the Seychelles will stage the 2025 Beach Soccer World Cup (1-11 May) as the tournament is held in Africa for the first time.

Running spikes, bikes and hoops

Following world indoor and relay events, the major track and field meet of the year will be in Japan when Tokyo hosts the World Athletics Championships (13-21 September).

Botswana's Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo faces stiff competition in his quest to add another senior global gold to his burgeoning medal collection, Kenya's Faith Kipyegon could potentially go for a third successive world title over 1500m, and compatriot Emmanuel Wanyonyi has told BBC Sport Africa he has his eye on David Rudisha's 800m world record.

Talking of records, could this be the year when the men's two-hour marathon mark is finally broken in open competition? The late Kelvin Kiptum was just 36 seconds shy of breaking the barrier in Chicago in October 2023.

East African marathoners battling for supremacy will have an extra race in which to set record times after Sydney (31 August) was added to the list of marathon majors, taking the total to seven.

Meanwhile, New Delhi will play host to the World Para Athletics Championships from 26 September to 5 October.

Eritrean cyclists will be chasing victories on the streets of Kigali at the Road World Championships

History will also be made when Rwanda hosts cycling's Road World Championships, which visits Africa for the first time in what will be its 98th edition.

Kigali is the venue for a week-long series of races (21-28 September) and Eritrea will hope to translate its recent dominance of the continental scene to world level. Tour de France green jersey winner Biniam Girmay is anticipated to be among the competitors.

Continental titles will be up for grabs at AfroBasket, and Nigeria's women head to Ivory Coast looking to defend their title for the fourth time (25 July to 3 August). Senegal and Mali are expected to be the closest challengers to D'Tigress.

The men's tournament (12-24 August) returns for the first time since 2021, with Angola hosting and Tunisia aiming to make it three titles in a row.

World championships and elections

South Africa are the continent's only representatives at the 2025 Rugby World Cup in England (22 August to 27 September), but the Springbok Women are looking for a first win at the tournament since 2014.

The country will also appear at the Women's Cricket World Cup in September, looking to better their semi-final exits from the two most recent editions of the 50-over tournament.

Guinea will make their debut at the men's World Handball Championships (14 January to 2 February) among a five-strong African contingent, while the women's equivalent will begin in late November.

Egypt will stage the World Para-Powerlifting Championships (11-18 October), while Tokyo will be the venue for the Deaflympics the following month (11-18 November).

Archery and para-archery, badminton, beach volleyball, para-cycling, fencing, para-swimming and volleyball will also have world championships over the course of 2025.

Off the pitch and track, Kirsty Coventry is bidding to become International Olympic Committee president – one of the most important positions in sport.

The Zimbabwean is seen as an outsider for May's election.

Meanwhile, Patrice Motsepe will have his second four-year term as president of the Confederation of African Football rubber-stamped in March.