Your guide to attend and who to cheer for Morocco’s Afcon 2025

At a glitzy ceremony in Rabat, Africa‘s football heavyweights drew on Monday the six groups that will be competing in Africa’s biggest sporting event: Afcon 2025.

The host nation’s Atlas Lions will take to the pitch for the opening game against the Comoros on 21 December at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.

The stakes are high—not just for Morocco, which has not lifted the Afcon trophy since 1976, but for the 23 other teams dreaming of glory.  

The road to victory

On the sidelines of the Rabat ceremony, three countries have already– playfully– claimed the trophy theirs.

Ivory Coast, fresh off their 2024 Afcon win, have no intention of letting go of the title.

“Sorry, Morocco, but we are bringing the trophy back to Abidjan,” quipped their coach Emerse Fae, who stepped in after a crushing 2024 group-stage defeat to Equatorial Guinea.  

Meanwhile, Morocco‘s Walid Regragui, the mastermind behind their historic semi-final finish at the 2022 World Cup, is banking on home support.

“Moroccan fans are the best in the world,” he said. “Their energy will carry us through.”

The team faces Comoros, Mali, and Zambia in Group A, and fans will expect nothing less than dominance.  

But there are other contenders ready to steal the spotlight. Egypt, the most successful team in AFCON history with seven titles (but none since 2010), face a tough Group B against South Africa, Angola, and Zimbabwe.

All eyes are on Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Manchester City’s new signing Omar Marmoush to break their drought.  

“We are lucky to have Mohamed, one of the greatest footballers in the world, and the talented Omar, but watch out for many other Egyptians who will impress in Morocco,” said Coach Hossam Hassan. 

Where and how to watch 

If you’re planning to catch Afcon live, Morocco offers a football lover’s dream.

Morocco, who will also host this year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon), stepped in as Afcon 2025 hosts after Guinea were stripped of the tournament because of concerns about infrastructure.

With nine stadiums in Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech, Tangier, Fes, and Agadir, the venues are as diverse as the teams. Fast trains and flights make travelling between cities easy, with breathtaking Moroccan landscapes as your backdrop.  

And if you can’t snag tickets? Fear not. Watching the matches in Moroccan cafés—amid the roar of passionate fans debating every play over mint tea—is an experience unto itself. 

Hosting the Afcon is viewed as a crucial part of the Moroccan build-up toward the 2030 World Cup, which the kingdom will co-host with Spain and Portugal.

Afcon, a stage for political awareness

Beyond the goals and the glory, Afcon has long been a platform for the continent’s nations to express their struggles and aspirations.

For the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose players protested during the last tournament to shed light on ongoing violence in their homeland, this Afcon will be an opportunity to bring back attention to the little-talked about war back home.

Eastern Congo remains gripped by decades of armed conflict over land and resources, with mass killings and displacement plaguing the region.

This January, M23 rebels stormed Goma, displacing tens of thousands.

For Congolese fans, their team’s presence in Afcon is a chance to draw global attention to their plight. They have started using the Afcon hashtag under TikTok, explaining the conflict to reach more audience.

Similarly, people in Sudan, ravaged by war and displacement, see the tournament as a chance to encourage conversation on the conflict in the country where at least one million people were displaced in the last two years.