AFCON 2025: Morocco’s Title Hunt Begins as Group Stage Kicks Off Today
by Joseph King | by Joseph King
Morocco looking to end 49-year wait for AFCON glory
Morocco have the perfect opportunity to exorcise their African Cup of Nations demons, coming into the 2025 edition as significant favourites and with home-field advantage. Still, this tournament is infamous for being unpredictable, so the North African giants will have to be at their very best for the next month of football. They’ll be hoping to avoid a repeat of the last time they hosted this tournament in 1988, where they gave up an 88th minute equalizer to draw Zaire 1-1.
Morocco certainly haven’t experienced the best of times in this competition, with their solitary title paling in comparison to the likes of Egypt (7 titles) Cameroon (5 titles) and Ghana (4 titles). Still, the Atlas Lions have taken their play to another level since the 2022 World Cup, where they became the first African side to make it to the semi-finals. Since then, they’ve lost only twice and have set a world record for most national team victories in a row at 18. Will the pressure of the high expectations get to the players or will they hold their nerve in Sunday’s opener? See what our experts think of the matchup with our Morocco vs Comoros prediction!
Morocco AFCON results:
- Appearances: 19
- Fourth-place: 2 (1986, 1988)
- Third-place: 1 (1980)
- Finals appearances: 2 (1976, 2004)
- Titles: 1 (1976)
Other 2025 AFCON storylines to keep an eye on
Egypt going for 8th title, Salah seeking his first
Led by arguably the best attacking duo in the tournament in Mo Salah and Omar Marmoush, Egypt will be gunning for a record eighth African Cup of Nations title. Having been crowned champions seven times in this tournament, Egypt hold two more AFCON trophies than second place Cameroon at five.
Salah’s attempts to win his first major title with his national team will be one of the central storylines of this year’s African Cup of Nations. The 33-year-old has come agonizingly close on two previous occasions, leading Egypt to runners-up finishes in 2017 and 2021. Will the legendary Liverpool winger finally be able to get over the line in what will be his fifth attempt at Africa’s biennial competition?
Are the defending champions flying under the radar?
Much of the focus in the lead up to the 2025 African Cup of Nations has naturally been around hosts Morocco. Egypt, Senegal and Algeria are considered to be in the next tier of the ‘top contenders’, which begs the question: are people underestimating Ivory Coast?
The Elephants prevailed in the 2023 edition on their home turf after beating Nigeria 2-1 in the final. It was their third ever AFCON title, moving them up to fourth in the all-time ranking and putting them level with Nigeria. Only two nations have managed to successfully retain the crown in this competition. Egypt did it twice, sensationally winning three straight from 2006 to 2010, while Cameroon defended their title in 2002.
Can Algeria restore their AFCON credentials?
There’s a lot of pressure on Algeria coming into this year’s AFCON. They were ignominiously eliminated in the group stage of the last two editions, finishing dead last in their group on both occasions. Another group stage elimination would be catastrophic. Manager Vladimir Petkovic would surely be replaced and there would be serious questions asked of the Algerian football federation (FAF) as a whole.
Algeria were crowned champions as recently as 2019 and is consistently considered to be one of the top favourites, with 2025 being no exception. It’s sure to be a compelling watch in Group E to see how the Fennec Foxes respond!
