AFCON 2025: Morocco, Nigeria, Ivory Coast Headline Top Seeds For Tournament Draw

Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) hosts Morocco, defending champions Ivory Coast, and Nigeria’s Super Eagles are expected to headline the top-seeded nations for the 2025 tournament draw, scheduled for January 27 in Rabat.

A Confederation of African Football (CAF) official, speaking anonymously to AFP, indicated that the latest FIFA world rankings would likely determine the seedings for the tournament. Historically, CAF has relied on FIFA rankings for seeding AFCON and World Cup draws.

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The December 2024 rankings are expected to be the basis, as the next update will not be released until April 2025.

The tournament’s 24 teams will be divided into six groups of four, with the top two teams from each group and the four best third-placed teams advancing to the knockout stages.

Originally slated for mid-2025, the tournament has been rescheduled to avoid clashing with the revamped FIFA Club World Cup.

AFCON 2025 will now run from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026. This marks the first time the biennial competition, inaugurated in Sudan in 1957, will span two calendar years.

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Morocco previously hosted the tournament in 1988, featuring just eight teams.

The Ivory Coast, crowned champions in February 2024, defeated Nigeria 2-1 in the final held in Abidjan. Sebastien Haller netted the decisive goal to secure the title.

Likely Seeding:

First Pot: Morocco (hosts), Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Ivory Coast (holders)
Second Pot: Cameroon, Mali, Tunisia, South Africa, DR Congo, Burkina Faso
Third Pot: Gabon, Angola, Zambia, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Benin
Fourth Pot: Mozambique, Comoros, Tanzania, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Botswana

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