AFCON 2025 Guide: History, Key Players, and Commercial Impact

“Cairo Stadium During AFCON U23 closing ceremony” by Crosskimo, originally uploaded to Wikimedia Commons; licensed under Creative Commons Attribution‑ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY‑SA 4.0)

The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is an exciting tournament.

Featuring the exhibition of lesser-known talents, the exploration of 24 different cultures, and the exposure to some of football’s most passionate fans—it’s quite the spectacle.

However, there are many who don’t know much about the tournament, apart from its knack of taking domestic football’s star players at just the wrong time in the season.

So whether you’re a first-time AFCON enjoyer or searching for an in-depth look at the tournament, this is the guide for you.

Welcome to your one stop shop for all things AFCON, where we’ll give an overview of the competition, on and off the pitch, from its beginnings to now.

What You Need to Know

Reigning Champions: Cote d’Ivoire

Start Date: 21st December

End Date: 18th January

Number of Teams: 24

Hosts: Morocco

Edition: 35

Most Titles: Egypt (7)

Three-Team Tournament to Global Phenomenon: A Brief History

The first edition of the Africa Cup of Nations was back in 1957. 

Widely known as AFCON for short, the first edition was also abbreviated with only two games played.

Egypt beat Sudan 2-1 in the semi-finals before beating Ethiopia 4-0 to win the tournament (Ethiopia had a bye in the semis due to South Africa’s disqualification.)

Since then, 14 other countries have won the competition during its rich and meandering history. This includes Ghanaian and Cameroonian spells of dominance in the 1960s and 80s before five different nations won the then-named African Unity Cup in the 90s.

Later came Egypt’s iconic three-peat between 2006 and 2010, followed by another period of variety—Cote d’Ivoire is the only team to have won the competition twice, and Egypt haven’t won it since.

The 24-team tournament is now bigger than ever, with every team having genuine belief that they can win it. Upsets have been known to happen.

In 1970, the AFCON final saw Sudan beat a Ghanaian side who had reached four consecutive AFCON. It marked Sudan’s only AFCON win and Ghana’s last final until 1978.

In 2012, Zambia beat a Cote d’Ivoire side featuring the likes of Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, and Gervinho to win the competition. Before the tournament began, they were ranked 71st in the FIFA World Rankings, and the 16th highest African side. Again, it is quite the spectacle.

How Often Does AFCON Take Place?

Since its inauguration in 1957, the 2025 AFCON is its 35th edition—the most of any continental championship.

Played every two years, the tournament took place during even-numbered years from 1968 until 2012, before switching to odd numbers from 2013 to 2027 to avoid clashing with the World Cup.

From the 2028 edition, AFCON will be held every four years for the first time, aligning itself with the European Championship and the Olympics. This means that as well as the final of the 2025 tournament which will occur in January 2026, there will be an edition of AFCON in 2027, and again in 2028.

On the Pitch: Players, Teams, and Stories to Follow

As hosts, it is difficult to look past Morocco as favourites to win the tournament, who will be looking to extend their world-record run of victories. However, the only African nation to have reached a World Cup semi-final will have to start the tournament without the injured Achraf Hakimi.

Providing the reason for why the tournament is so hard to predict, however, is the number of teams with potential to upset the home nation. Egypt, Tunisia, and Senegal all went unbeaten in their World Cup qualifying campaigns, while South Africa’s 2023 semi-final run saw them keep five clean sheets, including against Morocco.

Five-time AFCON winners Cameroon have a star-studded squad, however recent coverage has focused on behind-the-scenes confusion, after Marc Brys was replaced as manager by David Pagou, though both released their own squad selections. 

But for many viewers, it’s the players that draw them to the competition. 

The standout is Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and whether he can finally lift the AFCON trophy, while focus will also be on teammate Omar Marmoush who leads the line.

Manchester United’s Bryan Mbeumo will also garner attention, and European fans will be eager to see Riyad Mahrez and Sadio Mane since their moves to the Saudi Pro League.

But it’s often the young talents who steal the show. Morocco’s Anass Salah-Eddine has been in fine form for PSV Eindhoven and will likely start with Noussair Mazzraoui as the fullbacks in Hakimi’s absence. South Africa’s Oswin Appollis is another, recording 13 goal contributions in 17 international appearances this year as Bofana Bofana’s starting left winger.

Off the Pitch: AFCON’s Infrastructure, Reach and Sponsorship 

Yet to produce a World Cup-winning team, African nations look to AFCON as their biggest chance to win silverware.

AFCON 2025 will be played in nine stadiums across six cities in Morocco. Four of which are new or reconstructed, while the other five have undergone extensive renovation as part of the nation’s investment in its sporting infrastructure ahead of both AFCON 2025 and its role as co-host of the 2030 World Cup.

Historically, both CAF and its member nations have struggled to keep up with Europe financially. In 2023, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said AFCON generates 20 times less than its European counterpart.

However, Infantino also unveiled plans for increased investment in the continent’s footballing infrastructure, saying: “We are elaborating a proposal to mobilise USD1 billion to build at least one top stadium in the countries of each of FIFA and CAF’s 54 member associations.”

AFCON 2025 has partnered with a record 20 broadcasters that will show AFCON in 180 territories worldwide.

This includes the decision to make AFCON widely available free-to-air, including on 49 of the 60 African channels showing the tournament. In the UK, every match will be broadcast free-to-air on Channel 4, marking a first in the tournament’s history.

Principal partner Total Energies, who have been AFCON’s primary sponsor since 2016, recently signed an extension with CAF until 2029.

This is reportedly worth around £840m to the governing body, which Motsepe said: “contributes to the development and global competitiveness of football in 54 African countries.”

There are an additional 22 companies who are currently partnered with CAF, including Puma, Suzuki, and Visa.

Meanwhile, CAF has increased the AFCON prize pot to an overall $32 million. 

Now, the winner’s maximum reward is set at $11.6 million, a figure depending on the team’s performance with a reward available for progressing through each round.

Teams who finish fourth in their respective groups will receive $500,000. Increasing amounts are allocated as each stage progresses, and the eventual winners will receive an extra $7 million.

UEFA’s 2024 European Championship operated a similar system.

For comparison, champions Spain received an overall package of $33.29 million which included $9.4 million for winning the final.

Beyond this, every team who qualified for the tournament received a base $10.9 million fee, as well as a match bonus of $1.1 million for each win and $589,000 for each draw.

The Biggest AFCON Yet

Elite talent and passionate fans are all things that define AFCON. While there is a long way to go to catch up with Europe, the tournament is also benefitting from increasing investment, improving its viewership and infrastructure. 

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Article by Zakaria Anani