Can Zimbabwe dream of advancing beyond the group stage of AFCON 2025?
by Geoffrey Ejiga | by Geoffrey Ejiga
Group B: The Toughest in the 2025 AFCON?
There's intense competition spread across the board in the 2025 AFCON group stage, but one of the toughest groups is undoubtedly Group B. Even the favourites, Egypt and South Africa, aren't sure of a knockout place as the 2023 quarterfinalists, Angola, enter the mix. See our expert's AFCON 2025 predictions and betting tips.
South Africa has now lost their last three competitive games against Angola outside friendlies, losing 9-1 on aggregate. Their recent meeting was a 3-0 thrashing in the COSAFA Cup just this past June. Egypt, on the other hand, has a better record against Angola, but that's only a win and a draw with a 3-2 aggregate since 2021.
Interestingly, with this level of chaos set for Group B, least-favoured Zimbabwe may very well sneak into the knockout stages.
What Would it Take for Zimbabwe to Make it Beyond the Group Stage?
The AFCON betting odds pit Zimbabwe for a last-place finish in Group B, and for very good reasons. They enter this tournament with the weakest side on paper, and their H2H against the Group B teams is also discouraging.
What's more, The Warriors enter the 2025 AFCON with a string of bad performances that have seen them win only one of their last seven games and two of the last 15. However, they managed to cap that run with a positive performance by beating Qatar 2-1 in a brilliant comeback.
Can they carry off that momentum into Africa’s most prestigious competition? Well, that depends on whether they can win points off Egypt, the seven-time AFCON champions, in their opening game. They've lost their last three to The Pharaohs, but the last meeting was in 2019, over half a decade ago. Additionally, Egypt is also winless in their last four games, losing 1-0 to Uzbekistan and then followed by three straight draws, with the latest coming against the UAE in the Arab Cup.
Even if they can steal a point or all three against Egypt, Zimbabwe will still have to do the same against Angola in the next round and/or South Africa, who they have the better record against, in the final round. Zimbabwe last faced Angola in a 2018 friendly in which the Sable Antelopes won.
Before that was in the 2012 edition of this competition, where both teams won one leg each of their qualification games. South Africa, on the other hand, faced Zimbabwe as recently as October, where they drew 0-0 in the FIFA World Qualification. If Zimbabwe can repeat these past performances, they might just make it to their first-ever AFCON knockouts.
Group B Fixtures and Schedule
Round 1
- South Africa vs Angola - 22/12/2025
- Egypt vs Zimbabwe - 22/11/2025
Round 2
- Angola vs Zimbabwe - 26/12/2025
- Egypt vs South Africa - 26/12/2025
Round 3
- Zimbabwe vs South Africa - 29/12/2025
- Angola vs Egypt - 29/12/2025
