The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, or AFCON, will take place in Morocco after Ivory Coast hosted the last tournament in 2024 (though that was AFCON 2023). This year’s competition remains some way off and whilst it will start in December 2025, the final will not take place until the 18th of January 2026.
There may be many months until the big kick-off, but the draw for the finals took place on the 27th of January 2025 in Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Rabat is just the seventh-largest city in the North African nation, but four different stadia in the capital will be used for AFCON. In addition, Agadir, Casablanca, Marrakech, Fez and Tangier will also host matches.
The final and other key games will be held at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat. This venue has a capacity of almost 70,000 and is the biggest being used for the tournament. Before we get the final two on the 18th of January, however, there is a lot of football to be played. Now, following the draw for the group stage, we know who will play who and when all of those matches will take place.
Hosts Earn Favourable Draw

Host nation Morocco are, as is the norm, in Group A, where they have been drawn alongside Mali, Zambia and Comoros. Manager Walid Regragui will be quietly content with that draw, especially as his side, the highest-ranked in Africa (14th in the FIFA standings at the time of writing) open their tournament against little-fancied Comoros.
That will be the tournament’s opening clash on Sunday the 21st of December and should allow Morocco to ease themselves into things. In theory! Tiny Comoros are down in 103rd place in the FIFA rankings and with a population of around 900,000; more people live in Marrakech. Comoros is also small in terms of area, being the third-smallest country in the continent, whilst their football history is equally limited.
This will be just the second time they have made it to the finals, qualifying for the first time in 2021. They did incredibly well back then and made the last 16 but this time around they will do very well to avoid picking up the wooden spoon in the group. Morocco should certainly see them off in the tournament curtain-raiser and will expect to top the group, with Mali most likely to join them in the round of 16.
Defending Champions Drawn Alongside Cameroon

Ivory Coast won the last tournament on home soil and Morocco will be hoping to emulate them. As for the defending champions, they will feel they could have been given a kinder draw when the groups were revealed in Rabat. They are in what is probably the obligatory “Group of Death”, although in truth, with 16 of the 24 nations progressing from this first phase of the tournament, it is probably harder to be eliminated than to progress. Nonetheless, joining them in Group F will be Cameroon, Gabon and Mozambique.
The two West African heavyweights, Ivory Coast and Cameroon, will be expected to be battling it out for first place in the group. The date to mark in your diary is the 28th of December when they will meet in Marrakech. Both have underperformed a little of late though and with just three places between them in the world rankings (Ivory Coast are 46th, Cameroon 49th – for what FIFA’s standings are worth!) this group is a tough one to call. In terms of the outright betting odds, the former are 11/1, the latter 16/1. For reference, Morocco are currently the warm favourites at 3/1 with most bookmakers.
Salah’s Egypt in Group B

Mo Salah will be 33 by the time of the tournament but he will be hoping he can guide Egypt to an eighth win in this competition. This might not be his last AFCON but he is certainly running out of time and he is yet to get his hands on the trophy, Egypt having lost in the final in 2021 and 2017, and last having won back in 2010. With new Manchester City recruit Omar Marmoush helping shoulder the burden in attack, The Pharaohs certainly have a very decent chance.
The outright betting is dominated by teams from the north of the continent, with Morocco priced as the favourites, as said, followed by Algeria and Egypt, both at odds of 6/1. Salah and co will be confident enough of escaping the first round of AFCON, and their tournament begins with a clash against Zimbabwe on the 22nd of December. South Africa and Angola are the other nations in Group B.
Group C Could Provide the Winner

In Group C we have another side from the north who might just fancy their chances, in the shape of Tunisia. They are priced at 14/1, but Nigeria, who they play in the second batch of matches, are deemed a more likely winner at 9/1. East African duo Tanzania and Uganda round out the group but neither is expected to have a deep run in Morocco and making the last 16 would be a decent showing for either. A decent performance here would be seen as a solid foundation ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations which the pair will co-host alongside Kenya.
Senegal Expected to Top Group D

Sadio Mane’s Senegal, who won in 2021 and made the final in 2019, also progressing to the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup, are clear favourites to top Group D. They are in with a chance of going all the way too, according to the bookies, who rate them a 13/2 fourth favourite.
They open their tournament against Botswana, before taking on DR Congo and then ending their group games against Benin on the 30th of December. Should they win the group they will face a third-placed side, as do the winners of Group A (Morocco?), Group B (probably Egypt) and Group C (Nigeria we reckon).
Group E the Place to Be

Group E, like Group F, rewards its winners with a game against a group runner-up, so is not ideal from that perspective. However, it may well be the easiest in terms of the overall quality of the quartet. Algeria should win all three games and have a real chance of glory, but Sudan, Equatorial Guinea and Burkina Faso are really making up the numbers. Burkina Faso should take second place but the fact that they are ranked a 66/1 shot to go all the way tells you all you need to know. Let the countdown to the tournament commence.