Lions or Eagles: Which team will take home the AFCON title in 2025?

Tier 1: The Favorites

The Atlas Lions

Hosts Morocco are about as big of a favorite as you can be in as unpredictable a tournament as AFCON. Knocked out in the Round of 16 in 2023 to eventual semifinalists South Africa, Morocco had a very successful group stage before landing an unlucky draw in the second stage. They drew against DR Congo but defeated both Zambia and Tanzania. Placed in Group F, they were forced to face the second placed team in Group E instead of a team finishing third. This led to an uneventful knockout against South Africa, and the team with such high expectations flopped. However, three years ago, this Morocco team topped a group with defending finalists Croatia, a Belgium team still featuring elements of its golden era, and a very dynamic threat in Canada, before defeating Spain and Portugal to reach the World Cup semifinals. Morocco also went six for six and topped their qualifying group with two victories over Gabon, so the Atlas Lions have shown glimpses of greatness recently as well. The question is, which version of Morocco will show up?

The Lions of Teranga

The other lions are co-favorites to win AFCON this year, and will certainly be hoping to reclaim their form. Senegal topped a difficult Group C in 2023, with wins over Cameroon, Guinea, and Gambia. However, they suffered a similar fate and lost on penalties to eventual champion and host Ivory Coast, who turned around their form after a lackluster group stage. The Lions were able to navigate a tricky group with The Netherlands and Ecuador at the 2022 World Cup to take second place, but couldn't overcome England in the Round of 16 and fell 3-0. Senegal was strong in qualifying, with five wins and the only dropped points coming in a 1-1 draw with Burkina Faso. Senegal is consistently good, but can they be great enough to overcome everyone else on Africa's biggest stage?

The Super Eagles

Now if you're looking for extreme inconsistency with extreme talent, you've reached the right place. Nigeria has Africa's strongest side on paper by far, with Galatasaray's Victor Osimhen, Atalanta's Ademola Lookman, and Fulham's Alex Iwobi leading the star-studded attack. However, the chemistry often does not seem to be there, and the Super Eagles suffer greatly when the attack doesn't line up. After escaping a group with Cape Verde, Nigeria lost via extra time to Ghana to fail to qualify to the 2022 World Cup. The 2026 campaign was arguably weaker. After a loss to Benin and a draw with Lesotho, Nigeria was only able to snag a spot in the second-place playoff with a huge victory over Benin on the final matchday and a rule that rewarded Nigeria's two draws to last-placed Zimbabwe. Even then, Nigeria only took out Gabon in extra time and then lost on pentalties to DR Congo. 2023 AFCON was a bright spot, in which Nigeria made the final with wins over Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon, Angola, and South Africa, but couldn't get it done in the end when the hosts avenged the group stage defeat.

Tier 2: The Contenders

The Pyramids

Egypt has a star in Mo Salah, but he is really struggling at the moment in the Premier League with Liverpool in a slump. The attack may not flourish without him at his best, and it is difficult to tell how good Egypt will be due to not being pushed in either the 2025 AFCON qualifying campaign or the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign. Egypt fell in the Round of 16 in AFON 2023 in an absurd 8-7 pentaly shootout loss to DR Congo after drawing all three matches in the group stage to Cape Verde, Ghana, and Mozambique.

The Foxes

Algeria is another team that is very difficult to gauge. The Foxes flopped terribly in what was by far the easiest group of AFCON 2023, finishing bottom with draws to Angola and Burkina Faso and a loss to Mauritania that eliminated them on the final matchday. They also failed to reach the knockouts in 2021 with only a single draw against Sierra Leone. However, it's difficult to overlook the run to the AFCON title in 2019. Algeria cruised through both 2025 AFCON and 2026 World Cup qualifying, though they were in arguably very favorable groups both times. Time will tell whether Algeria can beat the streak and finally make it out of their favorable group, featuring Burkina Faso, Equitorial Guinea, and Sudan.

The Elephants

The defending champions are looking to make another run to the AFCON title. 2023 was a complete roller coaster. They barely squeezed out of Group A thanks to a shocking goalkeeper error by Ghana and fired their manager before their Round of 16 game. This worked magically, as Cote d'Ivoire took out Senegal, Mali, DR Congo, and Nigeria in a row to win the tournament as hosts. 2026 World Cup qualifying was a huge win for The Elephants, as their victory over Gabon separated the two teams at the top and allowed Ivory Coast to qualify for their first World Cup in twelve years.

Tier 3: The Knockout Threats

Bafana Bafana

This nickname will always be primarily tied to Tshabalala's opening goal at the 2010 World Cup, but South Africa has been having quite the resurgence in recent years. After losing out on the 2022 World Cup final qualifying round by just a single goal scored and the third tiebreaker, South Africa bounced back to take second in Group E at AFCON 2023 and carried the momentum to wins over Morocco and Cape Verde before finally being beaten in a penalty duel by Nigeria. Bafana Bafana then secured qualification to the 2026 World Cup in an ugly Group C shootout, even after a points deduction, and cruised through AFCON qualification. South Africa is a team to definitely watch for.

The Indomitable Lions

Cameroon is an interesting case. Sometimes they look like they can keep up with the top teams in Africa, and sometimes they look like a second-tier team. In AFCON 2023, they finished second on goals scored in Group C and bowed out to Nigeria in the Round of 16. In 2026 World Cup qualifying, they finished second to debutants Cape Verde before losing to DR Congo in the second round and missing out entirely. However they topped their 2025 AFCON and 2022 World Cup qualifying groups and put up a very strong fight in the World Cup itself, drawing with Serbia and defeating Brazil.

The Leopards

DR Congo has had a very strong couple of years in international football. After being destroyed by Morocco in the final round of 2022 World Cup qualifying, The Leopards bounced back to finish second in 2023 AFCON Group F with three draws before taking out Egypt and Guinea on route to a semifinal appearance. In 2026 World Cup qualifying, DR Congo finished second in the group stage to Senegal before overcoming Cameroon and Nigeria to seal their spot in the inter-confederation playoffs. AFCON 2025 qualifying was even more encouraging, as they topped their group.

The Eagles of Carthage

Tunisia has also been a very consistently strong team for years, qualifying for their record 17th straight AFCON and the last three World Cups. However, they haven't performed well at last few tournaments themselves. They finished last in an arguably difficult Group E at AFCON 2023 and bowed out of the past two World Cups in the group stage despite wins over France and Panama. Tunisia has what it takes to compete on the biggest stage, but they need to turn consistency into a couple of strong performances to win AFCON again.

Tier 4: The Potential Runs

The Panthers

Like many of the teams mentioned above, Gabon has multiple identities. There's the team that missed AFCON 2023 and the 2022 World Cup, and there's the team that thrived in 2026 World Cup qualifying and 2025 AFCON qualifying. Which team will show up, and can Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang finally achieve something with The Panthers?

The Eagles

Yep, more Eagles. Mali is by far Africa's most underachieving team in the past decade. They have so much talent and have shown glimpses of greatness, but The Eagles have failed to make an impact. AFCON 2021, Round of 16 against Equatorial Guinea on penalties; World Cup 2022, lost to Tunisia in the final round of qualifying 1-0; AFCON 2023, lost to Ivory Coast in the quarterfinals after extra time; World Cup 2026, finished third behind Madagascar in the group stage of qualifying. They have to do it sometime, and AFCON 2025 seems like the perfect place to shine in a group with Morocco, Zambia, and Comoros.

The Stallions

Another team that has slightly underperformed expectations is Burkina Faso. The Stallions were unlucky to be placed in a group with Egypt in 2026 World Cup qualifying, but capitalized on a weak bottom half of their 2025 AFCON qualifying group to finish second behind Senegal and qualify. They had a chance to perform well at 2023 AFCON but struggled in a group with Mauritania, Algeria, and Angola before losting to Mali in the Round of 16.

Tier 4: Group Threats

The Coelacanths

I'll be honest. I have no clue what a Coelacanth is, but these Coelacanths are very, very dangerous. Everyone seems to be picking them to finish an easy last place in Group A, which is possible as the group is very strong with Morocco, Mali, and Zambia. However, I think Comoros can shock and qualify very easily. They reached the knockouts in 2021 on their debut and just missed out on qualification for the 2023 event. Comoros topped Tunisia, The Gambia, and Madagascar in Group A of AFCON 2025 qualification and come into the tournament in great form. Expect the unexpected in Group A and beyond.

The Cheetahs

This is Benin's chance to redeem themselves, but that's only because they performed so much better than expected in World Cup qualification. Yes, it's partially because South Africa fielded an ineligible player and got docked three points, but Benin was top of Group C with a matchday to go, a group featuring Nigeria and South Africa. Ultimately, The Cheetahs were destroyed on Matchday 10 by Nigeria, giving up not only a direct 2026 World Cup spot but also a chance at the intercontinental playoffs, but the entire campaign was positive. Benin should be looking to surprise either DR Congo or Senegal in Group D and should have at least one free result against Botswana.

Full Predictions

Group A

Morocco (9)

Comoros (3)

Mali (2)

Zambia (2)

Group B

Egypt (7)

South Africa (7)

Angola (3)

Zimbabwe (0)

Group C

Tunisia (6)

Nigeria (6)

Uganda (4)

Tanzania (1)

Group D

Senegal (9)

DR Congo (6)

Benin (3)

Botswana (0)

Group E

Algeria (7)

Equitorial Guinea (5)

Burkina Faso (4)

Sudan (0)

Group F

Cameroon (5)

Ivory Coast (5)

Gabon (3)

Mozambique (1)

Third Place

Uganda (4)

Burkina Faso (4)

Gabon (3)

Benin (3)

Angola (3)

Mali (2)

Round of 16

Nigeria def. Comoros

Senegal def. Burkina Faso

Egypt def. Benin

Equitorial Guinea def. Cameroon

South Africa def. Ivory Coast

Morocco def. Uganda

DR Congo def. Algeria

Gabon def. Tunisia

Quarterfinals

Nigeria def. Senegal

Egypt def. Equitorial Guinea

South Africa def. Morocco

Gabon def. DR Congo

Semifinals

Egypt def. Nigeria

South Africa def. Gabon

Third Place

Nigeria def. Gabon

Final

South Africa def. Egypt

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