Tomorrow.. The African Continent Awaits the Kickoff of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations

Football fans worldwide, and especially in Africa, are eagerly awaiting the start of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco tomorrow, Sunday, which will continue until January 18th.

The Moroccan national team, hosting the continental competition on its stadiums, aims to prove itself as a global football power by winning its second Africa Cup of Nations title, after its first in 1976 in Ethiopia.

This tournament, lasting four weeks, serves as a comprehensive rehearsal for the 2030 World Cup, where Morocco will be one of the main host countries. The kingdom has embarked on one of the largest infrastructure programs in the history of African sports in preparation for this event.

Twenty-four teams from across the continent will compete in nine new or fully renovated stadiums across six cities. Morocco is considered one of the top favorites to win the prestigious title, especially after reaching the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup, an unprecedented achievement.

The six Arab teams participating in the tournament hope to reclaim the title they lost in the last two editions, specifically since Algeria's victory in 2019.

The defending champion Ivory Coast, which won the last edition hosted on its home grounds, is the main contender to challenge the Arab teams for the title, while Nigeria hopes to achieve a better result after losing in the final of the previous edition. Nigeria also aims to appease its fans who were deeply disappointed after the "Flying Green Eagles" failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Senegal, led by its veteran star Sadio Mané, returns to participate after winning the 2021 edition in Cameroon, while Egypt aspires to keep the focus of its legendary star Mohamed Salah on winning his eighth continental title, despite speculation about his future, to extend Egypt's record as the most successful team in the tournament since its first edition in 1957.

Initially, Guinea was scheduled to host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, but the hosting rights were withdrawn in 2022 when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) decided that the country lacked adequate infrastructure and facilities.

Morocco, which had its hosting rights withdrawn in 2015, offered to organize the 35th edition of the tournament.

The tournament was initially planned for the summer, but CAF agreed to postpone it to avoid clashing with the new format of the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, which featured 32 teams for the first time.

CAF changed the Africa Cup of Nations schedule to summer starting with the 2019 edition in Egypt, but the 2021 edition was postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and held in January because of "unfavorable climatic conditions" during the summer in Cameroon.

Morocco faces significant pressure to win its second Africa Cup of Nations title, beginning its campaign against Comoros at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, which holds 69,500 spectators, tomorrow in Group A, which also includes Mali and Zambia.

Group B in the group stage features a match between Egypt and South Africa, which eliminated Morocco in the last edition, while Angola and Zimbabwe hope to cause an upset and advance to the knockout stages.

Nigeria and Tunisia are expected to qualify from Group C, which also includes Uganda and Tanzania.

Meanwhile, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo compete in Group D alongside Benin and Botswana.

The Democratic Republic of Congo lost to Ivory Coast, the titleholder, in the semi-finals of the last edition.

Algeria faces heavy pressure in Group E after being eliminated in the group stage in the last two editions. The "Desert Warriors" face Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, and Sudan.

Group F features a heated competition between defending champions Ivory Coast and Cameroon, which has five titles. However, Cameroon's preparations were overshadowed by the dismissal of its coach amid a dispute with federation president Samuel Eto'o. The group is completed by Gabon and Mozambique.

Ghana, with four titles, is notably absent from the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations after failing to qualify, finishing last in its group in a major surprise.

The top team from each group qualifies for the knockout stages, along with the four best third-placed teams from the six groups, according to the tournament regulations.

Many stars will be in the spotlight, foremost among them Moroccan right-back Achraf Hakimi of Paris Saint-Germain, recently awarded the 2025 African Player of the Year.

Hakimi's image is featured on every billboard in Morocco's capital, Rabat, as he races against time to recover from a current ankle injury to participate with his national team.

Mohamed Salah will also be closely watched in the Egyptian camp amid speculation about his possible departure from Liverpool after expressing frustration over limited playing time with the Reds.

Salah, 33, has never won the Africa Cup of Nations but came close in 2017 and 2022 when Egypt reached the final.

Victor Osimhen remains the standout player in Nigeria's squad. The absence of the Galatasaray striker due to injury was a major reason for the "Flying Green Eagles" failing to qualify for next year's World Cup.

Cameroonian fans pin great hopes on Bryan Mbeumo, Manchester United's striker, while Yannick Dumandi is expected to shine with Ivory Coast after a strong start to the season with German club RB Leipzig.