AFCON 2025 preview – which players and teams to watch out for | OneFootball

The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) starts this week and is taking place in Morocco between December 21 and January 18.

This will be the last version of the tournament to take place every two years and after this edition it will occur every four years.

So who are the favourites? Well according to Opta, the five favourites are Morocco, Egypt, Senegal, Algeria and Nigeria, in that order.

Let’s asses their credentials, and the players to watch from each team…

Morocco

Opta have given Morocco a 19.1% chance of winning the tournament, making them the favourites. It is perhaps no surprise given they are the home team and reached the semi-finals of the last World Cup.

Walid Regragui, the man who masterminded the World Cup feat, is still the manager, and he boasts an impressive squad.

The standout players are PSG’s Achraf Hakimi and Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz, but the squad also includes Nayef Aguerd, Noussair Mazraoui, Sofyan Amrabat and Eliesse Ben Seghir.

Egypt

Many eyes will be on Egypt because of Mohamed Salah, which is normally the case, but this time it will be for different reasons.

The forward left Liverpool in a cloud of uncertainty following his outburst in the mixed zone after the Reds’ game against Leeds, and it will be fascinating to see how Egypt’s star player responds.

He is certain to start every game for Hossam Hassan (if fit), and has never won AFCON, despite Egypt being the most successful team of all time in the competition, winning it seven times.

Opta give the Egyptians a 12.4% chance of winning the tournament, but Salah and Omar Marmoush aside, they are not blessed with the talent of some of the other nations competing.

Senegal

Arguably the nation with the best squad in the competition, Senegal boast Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Idrissa Gueye, Ismaila Sarr, Pape Sarr, Ibrahim Mbaye, Iliman Ndiaye, Nicolas Jackson and Sadio Mane, amongst others.

They won their first AFCON title in 2021, and Opta give them a 12.3% chance of doing it again this time around.

Interestingly, Senegal are in the same group as DR Congo, who they finished above in qualification to book a direct place in the World Cup. Congo finished second and now face a playoff in March to confirm their place, so they may feel there is a score to settle.

Algeria

Algeria won the tournament in 2019 and have probably passed their peak, but they still have a 12% chance of winning, according to Opta.

Riyad Mahrez, as he was in 2019, is still their key player. They also have Ismael Bennacer and Rayan Ait-Nouri.

Since winning in 2019, they have not gotten past the group stages in this competition, and will be looking to rectify that this time.

Nigeria

Fresh off the back of missing out on qualification to next year’s World Cup, the Super Eagles will surely come to this tournament with more than a point to prove.

Like Senegal, they are blessed with a brilliant squad, containing the likes of Calvin Bassey, Nathan Tella, Wilfred Ndidi, Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi, Samuel Chukwueze and Victor Osimhen.

Opta give them a 7.3% chance of winning the competition.

Other storylines

Ivory Coast, despite winning the last AFCON in 2023, are ranked as the seventh favourite team by Opta, below the five above and Tunisia.

Ghana, despite winning the tournament four times, failed to qualify for this edition.

It is sure to be a great tournament, and it kicks off this week, with the first game Morocco v Comoros.