The 35th Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is set to happen from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026. This biennial African football event will be held in Morocco for the second time in its history.
Initially, Guinea was chosen to host this edition. However, they had to relinquish their hosting rights due to unpreparedness. Following a second bidding process, Morocco was selected as the new host on 27 September 2023. Previously, Morocco was supposed to host the 2015 tournament but withdrew due to concerns about the Western African Ebola virus epidemic.
There will be 24 teams competing in AFCON 2025, all of whom have previously participated in the tournament. These teams include: Morocco, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Algeria, DR Congo, Angola, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Gaon, Uganda, South Africa, Tunisia, Nigeria, Mali, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Comoros, Benin, Sudan, Tanzania, Botswana, and Mozambique.
A notable absence from the tournament is four-time African champions Ghana, who did not qualify after finishing at the bottom of their group in the qualifiers. This marks the first time they will miss the Africa Cup of Nations since 2004.
Ivory Coast, the reigning champions, secured their third title by defeating Nigeria in the 2023 Finals. South Africa took third place, while DR Congo finished in fourth.
Qualification
The qualifiers took place earlier this year, from 20 March to 19 November 2024. The preliminary round draw was conducted on 20 February 2024 in Cairo, Egypt, and included eight national teams.
The four victors: Chad, Eswatini, Liberia, and South Sudan have progressed to the subsequent round, joining the 44 teams that had automatically entered.
The group stage was hosted in Johannesburg, South Africa, featuring 48 national teams split into twelve groups of four. The two leading teams from each group secured their spots in the main tournament.
Among the prominent qualifiers, Tunisia stood out by making their 22nd appearance, continuing their streak to 17 consecutive participations. Botswana managed to qualify for only the second time in their history, having first taken part in 2012. However, nations such as Gambia, Guinea, Cape Verde, Mauritania, and Namibia, which had qualified for the previous edition, did not make it this time.
Venues
Six different cities will host the tournament matches, utilizing the following venues:
- Agadir Adrar Stadium – Agadir
- Mohammed V Stadium – Casablanca 45,891
- Fez Stadium – Fez
- Marrakesh Stadium – Marrakesh
- Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium – Rabat
- Ibn Batouta Stadium – Tangier
Tournament Structure
The competition will feature 6 groups, each comprising 4 teams. The top two teams from each group, along with the best four teams that finish third, will progress to the round of 16. Teams will face each other twice within their groups. A win will earn a team 3 points, a draw will earn 1 point, and a loss will yield no points.
In the event of tied points at the end of the group stage, the following tiebreaker criteria will be applied in sequence:
- Points accumulated in head-to-head matches between the tied teams.
- Goal difference in head-to-head matches between the tied teams.
- Goals scored in head-to-head matches between the tied teams.
Starting from the Round of 16, each match will be a knockout, with the defeated team being removed from the competition.
AFCON 2025 Important Dates
On 16 December 2024, the Confederation of African Football revealed that the group stage draw will occur on 27 January 2025 in Rabat. All participating teams, except the host nation Morocco, will be included in the draw, as Morocco is already assigned to Group A.
The tournament will kick off on Sunday, 21 December 2025, with the Final scheduled for Sunday, 18 January. The Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat is set as the venue for the Final.
