AFCON 2025 begins in late December as Morocco hosts the tournament for the first time since 1988.
With an expanded 24-team field and several major nations seeking to recover from underwhelming 2023 campaigns, the competition arrives with both historical weight and renewed competitive tension.
AFCON 2025 kicks off on the 21st of December as Morocco hosts the tournament for the first time since 1988. With an expanded 24-team field and several major nations seeking to recover from underwhelming 2023 campaigns, the competition arrives with both historical weight and renewed competitive tension.
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AFCON 2025 Overview
The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations will commence in late December, marking Morocco’s first time hosting the tournament since 1988. Matches will be staged across six cities and nine stadiums, with Rabat selected for both the opening fixture and the final.
The event retains the expanded 24-team structure introduced in 2019. The format consists of six groups of four teams. From these, the top two in each group will progress to the round of 16, joined by the four best third-placed finishers.
Morocco, as hosts, enter the competition carrying elevated expectations. Several traditional contenders—including Senegal, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Egypt and Algeria—will arrive with varying degrees of pressure, shaped by contrasting trajectories over the past competitive cycle.
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AFCON 2023 Recap
The 2023 edition, held in early 2024 in Ivory Coast, proved one of the most dramatic tournaments of the modern era.
Champions: Ivory Coast, who defeated Nigeria 2–1 in the final in Abidjan after recovering from an early deficit.
Runners-up: Nigeria.
Third place: South Africa, who edged DR Congo on penalties after losing to Nigeria in the semi-finals.
Fourth place: DR Congo, eliminated by the eventual champions.
Photo: Ange Gnacadja/Gallo Images
