TikTok and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) today announced a first-of-its-kind partnership that will bring unmissable football content to fans, both on the continent and across the globe.

It marks TikTok's first major brand partnership in Africa and supports the continent's most popular sport - football. Through this year-long sponsorship, TikTok will be supporting the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Africa's biggest sporting event, kicking off in January 2022 in Cameroon. TikTok will also be a part of the action for the the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League 2022 and the TotalEnergies CAF Women's Africa Cup of Nations 2022 in Morocco.

The collaboration between TikTok and CAF will allow fans to celebrate the tournaments' unforgettable moments together. With everything from pre & post match content and highlights, to football-related challenges and even the chance to engage with their favourite African stars, TikTok continues to be home for the spirit and passion of these iconic sporting events.

Creating a virtual stadium #WhereAllFansPlay TikTok will be offering our community new ways to create and engage with African football, through in-app effects, a special hub for tournaments as well as unique features and filters for the football community to enjoy.

It comes as TikTok cements its position as the perfect platform for football fandom and culture across both men's and women's games, with the #football and #Soccer hashtags racking up an incredible 273.1B and 108.6B to-date, respectively.

TikTok's vertical screen, sound-on format mirrors the action and excitement of a stadium, but also create new perspectives of the beautiful game, from never-before-seen content, to professional athletes giving us a window into their world.

The fast growth of sporting talent, fan communities, creative sports trends and commentary on the platform led to TikTok becoming the first digital entertainment platform to sponsor a major international tournament for UEFA with EURO 2020. As part of the sponsorship, UEFA launched an official TikTok account which attracted over 2 million views in less than 2 weeks. Its success shows how the TikTok community embraced the blend of archive, exclusive behind-the-scenes and live content.

With over 1.6 million followers on TikTok, the official CAF TikTok account has also fast become Africa's footballing go-to fandom and with tournaments such as AFCON making a return on the continent, we can expect to see continued growth and love for the sport on the platform.

CAF General Secretary, Mr Veron Mosengo-Omba said:

“We are truly delighted to have TikTok come on board as an official sponsor. Football content in Africa is in high demand and together with TikTok we are able to create and encourage the online community to engage in and create the type of content that will take both brands to new markets.

We look forward to working with TikTok in creating true African football experiences for fans around the world, virtually.

To us, this is not just about being a football federation but about continuing to be the single-biggest football entertainment producers in Africa, giving fans everywhere, world-class football experiences throughout the year."

Boniswa Sidwaba, TikTok Content Operations Manager for Africa, said:

“Fans on the African continent have not been able to come together to enjoy the beautiful game of football due to COVID-19 regulations. For us, this is also an opportunity to bring African football fans around the world together again, online, starting with the much anticipated TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations.

As a proudly multicultural continent, Africa is beaming with creativity and talent. We see a lot of potential to harness and cultivate creative football expression on our platform. We certainly look forward to inspiring fans to celebrate and participate in content unique to TikTok, in the most African way possible, providing great entertainment for the community.”

Harley Johnson, Sports Marketing Lead, EMEA TikTok said:

"2021 was a monumental year for sport on TikTok, from our partnership with UEFA EURO 2020 which cemented TikTok as the home of football fandom, to the way the community got to experience what goes on behind the scenes at the Olympic park.

Fans, teams, players and sports communities around the world come together on TikTok to share their passion, to be entertained, create their own sporting memories and have fun whilst doing it.

We are thrilled to kick off 2022 by partnering with CAF as an official sponsor of the women and men's TotalEnergies African Cup of Nations, as we celebrate the culture of African football and continue to unite a global community of sports fans on TikTok."

Are you a football fan keen to join the action on TikTok? Getting involved couldn't be easier, simply download TikTok for free via the Apple App Store, Google Play or Amazon and follow the action #WhereAllFansPlay.