The tournament was expanded to its current format in 2019 and will feature most of the continent’s top teams, though powerhouses Ghana are conspicuous by their absence after failing to qualify.
It is always a tournament with great storylines and fantastic drama as the Ivory Coast seek to retain the trophy they won on home soil two years ago.
Quick overview of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations
Start date: Sunday, December 21st, 2025
Date of Final: Sunday, January 18th, 2026
Location: Morocco – nine stadiums across six cities
Major TV channels: beIN Sport, SuperSport, Canal+. Others to be confirmed.
Prize money: The winning team will receive $7 million with a total prize money pot of $32 million.
Last winner: Ivory Coast (2023)
Fixture schedule of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations
The tournament kicked off on Sunday, December 21st, at the newly renovated Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat as hosts Morocco open their Group A campaign against minnows Comoros.
This will be followed by 51 more matches, with 24 teams competing in the group stage and knockout stages over the next month.
The tournament will conclude on Sunday, January 18th, with the final at the same venue in Rabat.
Times below are Moroccan (GMT+1) and are subject to change.
Group Stages
Sunday, December 21st
Group A: Morocco vs Comoros – 20:00
Monday, December 22nd
Group A: Mali vs Zambia – 15:00
Group B: South Africa vs Angola – 18:00
Group B: Egypt vs Zimbabwe – 21:00
Tuesday, December 23rd
Group D: DR Congo vs Benin – 13:30
Group D: Senegal vs Botswana – 16:00
Group C: Nigeria vs Tanzania – 18:30
Group C: Tunisia vs Uganda – 21:00
Wednesday, December 24th
Group E: Burkina Faso vs Equatorial Guinea – 13:30
Group E: Algeria vs Sudan – 16:00
Group F: Ivory Coast vs Mozambique – 18:30
Group F: Cameroon vs Gabon – 21:00
Friday, December 26th
Group B: Angola vs Zimbabwe – 13:30
Group B: Egypt vs South Africa – 16:00
Group A: Zambia vs Comoros – 18:30
Group A: Morocco vs Mali – 21:00
Saturday, December 27th
Group D: Benin vs Botswana – 13:30
Group D: Senegal vs DR Congo – 16:00
Group C: Uganda vs Tanzania – 18:30
Group C: Nigeria vs Tunisia – 21:00
Sunday, December 28th
Group F: Gabon vs Mozambique – 13h30
Group E: Equatorial Guinea vs Sudan – 16:00
Group E: Algeria vs Burkina Faso – 18:30
Group F: Ivory Coast vs Cameroon – 21:00
Monday, December 29th
Group B: Zimbabwe vs South Africa – 17:00
Group B: Angola vs Egypt – 17:00
Group A: Zambia vs Morocco – 20:00
Group A: Comoros vs Mali – 20:00
Tuesday, December 30th
Group C: Uganda vs Nigeria – 17:00
Group C: Tanzania vs Tunisia – 17:00
Group D: Botswana vs DR Congo – 20:00
Group D: Benin vs Senegal – 20:00
Wednesday, December 31st
Group E: Equatorial Guinea vs Algeria – 17:00
Group E: Sudan vs Burkina Faso – 17:00
Group F: Gabon vs Ivory Coast – 20:00
Group F: Mozambique vs Cameroon – 20:00
Round of 16
Saturday, January 3rd
Match 37: Winner Group D vs Third Groups B/E/F – 17:00
Match 38: Second Group A vs Second Group C – 20:00
Sunday, January 4th
Match 39: Winner Group A vs Third Groups C/D/E – 17:00
Match 40: Second Group B vs Second Group F – 20:00
Monday, January 5th
Match 41: Winner Group B vs Third Groups A/C/D – 17:00
Match 42: Winner Group C vs Third Groups A/B/F – 20:00
Tuesday, January 6th
Match 43: Winner Group E vs Second Group D – 17:00
Match 44: Winner Group F vs Second Group E – 20:00
Quarter-finals
Friday, January 9th
Match 45: Winner M38 vs Winner M37 – 17:00
Match 46: Winner M40 vs Winner M39 – 20:00
Saturday, January 10th
Match 47: Winner M43 vs Winner M42 – 17:00
Match 48: Winner M41 vs Winner M44 – 20:00
Semi-finals
Wednesday, January 14th
Match 49: Winner M45 vs Winner M48 – 18:00
Match 50: Winner M47 vs Winner M46 – 21:00
Third-place playoff
Saturday, January 17th
Match 51: Loser M49 vs Loser M50 – 17:00
Final
Sunday, January 18th
Match 52: Winner M49 vs Winner M50 – 20:00
Teams and groups at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations
The 24 teams will compete to be crowned Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 champions, having earned their place through a qualification campaign that ended in November 2024, more than a year before the finals get underway.
The top two teams in each of the 12 qualification groups advanced to the tournament, with the draw for the finals completed in January 2025.
Each of the 24 participants were divided into six groups with four teams each.
2025 Africa Cup of Nations format
The teams in the six groups play each other in a round-robin format, with the top two automatically qualifying for the Round of 16.
They will be joined by the four best third-placed teams based on their record in the group stages. In the past, three points has generally been enough to earn one of these slots.
Should teams in the same group be level on points, the tiebreakers used are head-to-head in the first instance, then goal difference in all group matches, goals scored in all group matches and finally the drawing of lots.
The knockout phase starts with a Round of 16 and follows the usual format through to the final. Extra time and penalties are used to decide the winner if matches finish all square.
There will be a third/fourth playoff for the bronze medal.
Venue, host cities and stadiums
There will be nine stadiums used across six cities in Morocco (capacity in brackets):
Rabat: Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah (69,500)
Rabat: Stade Annexe Olympique Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah (21,000)
Rabat: Complexe Sportif Prince Hertitier Moulay El Hassan (22,000)
Rabat: Stade El Barid (18,000)
Casablanca: Stade Mohammed V (67,000)
Marrakech: Grand Stade de Marrakech (45,240)
Fes: Complexe Sportif de Fes (45,000)
Tangier: Grand Stade de Tanger (68,000)
Agadir: Grand Stade d’Agadir (45,480)
Prize money and sponsors of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations
The winner of the Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 receives $7-million, which is up substantially from $4-million at the 2021 edition.
The prize money breakdown is as follows:
Winner: $7,000,000
Runner-up: $4,000,000
Semi-finalists: $2,500,000
Quarter-finalists: $1,300,000
Round of 16: $800,000
Third in Group: $700,000
Fourth in Group: $500,000
Total prize money: $32,000,000
CAF has several sponsors for the event, but the headline partner is TotalEnergies. Others include VISA, PUMA, Orange, 1xBet, Royal Air Maroc 1, TECNO, QNET, Rexona, Danone, LONACI, Apsonic, Midea, AGL, Laughing Cow, Sidi Ali and Suzuki.
History and past winners of the Africa Cup of Nations
The Africa Cup of Nations is older than UEFA’s European Championships competition, having first been played as a three-team event in 1957. Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia were the original participants with a fourth, South Africa, expelled due to Apartheid.
Over the ensuing decades, the tournament has undergone several format expansions, reflecting broader growth in the number of CAF Member Associations.
By 1968, the tournament had expanded to eight teams, which remained the format for many editions.
In 1992, it expanded again to 12 finalists, introducing a quarter-final stage for the first time. The next major leap came in 1996, when the field was increased to 16 teams, a format that remained in place for over two decades.
Most recently, starting with the 2019 edition, the tournament embraced a 24-team format.
Egypt are the record seven-time winners, though their last trophy came in 2010, which itself was a hat-trick of titles after victories in 2006 and 2008. No other team has won three in a row.
Cameroon are next in the list with five wins, followed by Ghana with four, though their last was in 1982, and they did not qualify for this edition. Nigeria and the Ivory Coast have three wins each.
In all, there have been 15 different winners, with 2025 hosts Morocco last lifting the trophy in 1976, a long wait for a team that would have expected many more victories in the 50 years since.
The Africa Cup of Nations trophy
The current Africa Cup of Nations trophy has been fought over since the 2002 edition and is the third handed out for the continental championship.
The original, made of silver, was the Abdelaziz Abdallah Salem Trophy, named after the first CAF president. Ghana held onto this one permanently when they lifted it for the third time in 1978.
It was replaced by the African Unity Cup, a cylindrical piece with the Olympic rings over a map of the continent engraved on it. This trophy was used between 1980 and 2000, when Cameroon became three-time champions.
The current gold-plated trophy was designed in Italy and first introduced in 2002. Despite Egypt lifting it three times between 2006 and 2010, they were not allowed to keep it.
The Africa Cup of Nations match ball
Built on PUMA’s advanced Orbita 6 technology and named ITRI, the ball draws inspiration from Morocco’s centuries-old zellij art form, which is renowned for its intricate geometric mosaics.
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