While Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire arrive with established pedigree and well-defined performance standards, Gabon and Mozambique enter the tournament intent on reaffirming their progress and elevating competitive consistency.
Algeria enter seeking redemption, Burkina Faso continue their pursuit of a breakthrough title, Equatorial Guinea maintain their reputation for upsetting stronger opposition, and Sudan look to build on a revived qualification campaign.
Benin return with ambitions of surpassing their 2019 breakthrough, Botswana enter only their second finals seeking credibility, DR Congo draw on deep tournament pedigree, and Senegal arrive as recent champions determined to reassert their continental influence.
Nigeria enter with historic weight and a squad built for a deep run, while Tanzania arrive on the back of unprecedented progress.
Egypt enter AFCON 2025 as perennial contenders with unmatched continental pedigree, while Bafana Bafana arrive buoyed by renewed stability and recent qualification success.
Morocco enter the Africa Cup of Nations as hosts and group favourites, returning to the continental stage with strong form and a deep, experienced squad.
Germany and Netherlands went on goal sprees as they wrapped up World Cup qualification with resounding wins in their last European group matches on Monday.
Democratic Republic of Congo ended Nigeria’s hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup with a penalty shootout victory in the African play-offs final on Sunday.
Norway qualified for their first World Cup since 1998 after Erling Haaland struck again in a 4-1 thumping of Italy on Sunday which sealed a spot in next summer’s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Harry Kane put the seal on flawless England’s record-setting finish to their World Cup qualifying campaign with a late double in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Albania.