The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) is edging closer, as it is exactly a week away before it officially kicks off this coming Sunday when hosts Morocco set the tone for the much-anticipated competition against Comoros at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
This edition of the Afcon is promising to be bigger and better than the previous one, with almost every team expected to bring their A-game.
Like any other competition, there will be teams that will see the odds stacked in their
favour, and Sunday World takes a close look at some of those teams.
Morocco:
Morocco are probably the outright favourites to lift the Afcon this year, as they not only have home advantage but have one of the most talented squads in the competition that includes the reigning CAF Men’s Player of the Year Achraf Hakimi.
The Atlas Lions will want to emulate the Ivory Coast, who hosted the tournament last year and went on to lift the trophy on home soil.
 Ivory Coast:
The defending champions will, without a shadow of a doubt, want to defend their status as the African kings. Ivory Coast are, though, in one of the toughest groups alongside Cameroon, Gabon, and Mozambique.
 Nigeria:
Having failed to qualify for the 2026 Fifa World Cup next year, Nigeria will at least want to conciliate their fans by going all the way to win the Afcon this time around.
The Super Eagles came so close to winning the previous Afcon when they lost in the final to Ivory Coast.
Seeing the amount of quality they have in their team, with players like Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi, and Samuel Chukwueze, among others, Nigeria are expected to cruise in the group stages.
South Africa:
Bafana Bafana may not be the outright favourites to win the Afcon this year, but they are surely one of the teams to keep a close eye on.
They surprised many at the previous Afcon, as they almost reached the final of the competition but fell short to Nigeria on penalties in the semi-finals, and had to settle for the bronze medal as the third-best team.
This time around, given that it is also coach Hugo Broos’ last Afcon, one will reckon that they will go all out and want to reach the final.
Senegal:
The Lions of Teranga play in almost every Afcon competition as one of the favourites, and it will not be any different this year.
Senegal won their first Afcon trophy in 2021, when they defeated Egypt in the final on penalties following a 0-0 draw after extra-time.
Senegal is also a star-studded team, with the likes of Sadio Mane, Nicolas Jackson, Ismaïla Sarr, and Iliman Ndiaye, among other big-name stars, all expected to grace the Afcon stage this year.
Egypt:
The Pharaohs are the most decorated team, having won the Afcon a record seven times, followed by Cameroon with five and Ghana with four titles.
Egypt last won the continental tournament in 2010, where they clinched it for an unprecedented three consecutive times (2006, 2008, and 2010).
But for them to return to winning ways in the Afcon, they will have to go past Bafana, who are in the same group with them and will not make it easy for them or any team, for that matter.
The Egyptians will be led by their captain and Liverpool star Mohamed Salah, and Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush.
