AFCON to Paris Olympics 2024: The 10 biggest sporting events in 2024

A Women’s Football World Cup, two Ashes series, an ODI World Cup and a Netball World Cup all took place in 2023. England was encapsulated down under as they followed their beloved Lionesses reach the World Cup final after being treated to one of the most closely fought Women’s Ashes series since the instigation of the multi-format series. 

The Men’s Ashes offered similar excitement with weather dampening either side’s chances of an outright win but few viewers will have avoided the chills when watching Stuart Broad end his cricket career on a six with the bat and wicket with the ball. 

On first glance it seems improbable that 2024 can top what we were treated to last year. But in just under ten days time the first of many enthralling sporting tournaments of the year begins and 2024 will have the stage set to be an even greater year for sport than its predecessor. 

Here are just ten of the biggest sporting events set for 2024

AFCON: 13 January - 11 February

The 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations takes place from 13th January to 11th February and will see football stars playing in leagues around the world return to their home countries and participate in the continent’s biggest sporting event. 

In the last tournament, we saw the battle of the two Liverpool legends as Mo Salah’s Egypt took on Sadio Mane’s Senegal in the final with the latter winning after a tense penalty shoot-out. 

With stars such as Manchester United’s Andre Onana and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen ready for the limelight, this tournament could be even more gripping than what we were treated to in 2021. 

Australian Open: 14 January - 28 January 

Yes - this does happen every. So why is it quite so special in 2024? Well, we could witness Novak Djokovic make history by winning his 25th Grand Slam and becoming the first person in the Open Era to do so. 

After securing his third French Open title last year, Djokovic overtook Rafael Nadal’s record of 22 Grand Slams and now has the opportunity to exceed Margaret Court’s 24 Grand Slam titles. 

With ten Australian Open titles already under his belt, it seems the most obvious location for Djokovic to achieve this incredulous feat but there is just the small matter of a rising Spanish star to contend with. 

Six Nations: 2 February - 16 March & 23 March - 27 April 

Another tournament that takes place every year but last year’s Women’s Six Nations witnessed attendance records not just broken but completely smashed. The question therefore begs, how much further can we go in 2024? 

While the Ireland men’s team secured a Grand Slam to win the 2023 Six Nations, their female counterparts were handed the wooden spoon. It’s been a year of phenomenal change in terms of professional contracts in women’s rugby and it will most certainly set up this year’s tournament to be the most competitive we’ve seen yet. 

As for the men, well after such dramatics in the World Cup which saw England reach the semi-final and Ireland eventually crumble to New Zealand in the quarter-finals, Steve Borthwick will hope the Lions can secure far higher than their fourth place finish of 2023. 

Super Bowl LVIII: 11 February 

Is it just me or is the interest in NFL somewhat different this year… It seems fans aplenty will be Enchanted to watch this year’s Super Bowl as they don their best Style, hoping their Wildest Dreams come true. 

While we may not be treated to the return of the Kelce brothers’ arc as of 2023, we could see the Baltimore Ravens take on San Francisco 49ers with Usher ready to deliver the hotly anticipated half-time show as thousands sing out ‘Yeah!’ in the Las Vegas desert. 

Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk: 17 February

It’s finally happening. The world of boxing has been waiting months for this clash with negotiations previously falling at the final hurdles. 

Oleksandr Usyk burst onto the scene after defeating Anthony Joshua twice and now he will face Tyson Fury in the hope of becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999. 

The Gypsy King suffered a recent shock and embarrassment of needing a split decision verdict to beat UFC’s Francis Ngannou in October and must muster up quite some ordeal if he is to go up against arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. 

Men’s T20 World Cup: 4 June - 30 June

That’s right - it’s another cricket World Cup. This time, however, we are heading to a new location as cricket prepares to take the American shores by storm. With America and the West Indies sharing the hosting responsibilities, it’s set to be a phenomenal party atmosphere and could help reach an untapped market as cricket bids to make its mark on the 50 states. 

England will enter as defending champions but after the horrors of their performances in the ODI World Cup in the Autumn, the odds are not in their favour for back-to-back victory. 

However, if there is something the England cricket team can do it’s unpredictable wins and they will not let their 2023 mishaps dampen any chance of victory this summer. 

Euros 2024: 14 June - 14 July 

Can England men match the success found by their female counterparts? Can Scotland produce football’s biggest upset and knock the home side out of the tournament? 

It’s only been 18 months since the last major men’s football tournament but there is such anticipation for what is always an incredible competition. 

While England are serious contenders to ‘bring football home’, Scotland have qualified for their second successive Euros after a qualifying campaign that put everyone else to shame and all eyes will be on Steve clarke’s men to see what miracles they can provide on the continent. 

Olympics: 26 July - 11 August

Of course. Arguably the biggest event of 2024: The Olympics. Chief executive of the Paris 2024 organising committee Etienne Thobois said: “We want a huge party” and as this represents the first Olympics to be hosted in Europe since London 2012, the French will most certainly want to outdo the English in any capacity they can. 

This year’s Games will also see the introduction of breakdancing and skateboarding while Britain will no doubt become fixated on the efforts of Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Keely Hodgkinson and Eilish McColgan. 

Paralympics: 28 August - 8 September

22 sports will once again take place in this year’s Paralympics with 4,400 athletes set to take part. And Great Britain will turn their attention to the powers of the wheelchair rugby team as Great Britain will hope to defend the gold medal won at the Yoyogi National Stadium in August 2021. This was one of 124 medals secured by ParalympicsGB in Japan and three years on the athletes have given little indication to suggest we are to see them secure any fewer this time around. 

Women’s T20 World Cup: September - October

Ten teams will head to Bangladesh in the hopes of securing victory in the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup and Australia enter the competition as undisputed favourites. They will, however, battle to win their seventh trophy without their talisman Meg Lanning who announced her retirement. 

Heather Knight will likely head up the England squad once again as rising stars such as Mahika Gaur, Lauren Bell and Lauren Filer look to make their impact on the big stage as women’s cricket continues to grow in popularity and participation every year.