Ivory Coast will begin the defence of their Africa Cup of Nations title against Mozambique, while hosts and World Cup semifinalists Morocco open the 2025 tournament against the Comoros Islands in Rabat on Dec. 21.
The Dec. 21-Jan. 18 tournament will be the biggest soccer event in Morocco before co-hosting the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal — the teams they eliminated at the 2022 World Cup to become the first African nation ever to reach the semifinals. Morocco then lost to France.
At the last Africa Cup, one year ago, Morocco was surprisingly ousted in the round of 16 by South Africa.
Ivory Coast won that Africa Cup as the host nation and will begin the defense of their title in a group with Cameroon, Gabon and Mozambique.
Nigeria, the beaten finalist last year with star strikers Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen, is in a group with Tunisia, Uganda and Tanzania.
Egypt, with Mohamed Salah still seeking a first Africa Cup title at age 33 when games start in December, was drawn into a group with South Africa, Angola and Zimbabwe.
Senegal, the 2021 champion, will face Congo, Benin and Botswana.
Of the top seeds, Algeria look to have drawn the most favourable section in Group E with Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea and Sudan.
Games will be played in six cities: Agadir, Casablanca, Fez, Marrakesh, Rabat and Tangier.
The top two finishers in each group plus the four best third-placed finishers advance to the round of 16.
The tournament has an earlier scheduled start in mid-December and will finish in time for players with European clubs to return for the Champions League resuming in late January. Less than six months later, many of those players will be at the 2026 World Cup co-hosted in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Africa will have nine direct entries at the first 48-team World Cup.
FULL DRAW:
Group A: Morocco, Mali, Zambia, Comoros
Group B: Egypt, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe
Group C: Nigeria, Tunisia, Uganda, Tanzania
Group D: Senegal, DR Congo, Benin, Botswana
Group E: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan
Group F: Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Gabon, Mozambique.
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