AFCON 2025 - Preview: Algeria vs Sudan
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All original articlesAlgeria and Sudan meet this Wednesday at 15:00 GMT at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, for the opening of Group E of the African Cup of Nations. An unprecedented display at this stage of the competition, between an Algeria in search of a renaissance and a Sudan driven by the desire to mark its return.
This will be the first confrontation between Algeria and Sudan in the final phase of the AFCON. The two selections have however already faced each other eight times in all competitions combined, with a favorable record for Les Fennecs (4 wins, 4 draws).
In 2024, the debates were balanced. 1-1 then Algerian elimination in penalty kicks in the quarters of CHAN, and 0-0 at the FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar. Algeria also remembers a 4-0 victory against Sudan at the 2021 Arab Cup, a tournament they will win.
Algeria, the urgency to move forward
Double champion of Africa (1990, 2019), Algeria plays her 21st edition, twenty years after her first participation in 1968. But the recent dynamics are worrying: eliminations from the group stage in 2021 and 2023, and six matches without a victory in the final phase (3 draws, 3 defeats), his longest period of drought in the competition. Their last success goes back to the final 2019 against Senegal.
Paradoxically, the Fennecs often start their tournaments well: unbeaten in their last five opening matches (2 wins, 3 draws), their last defeat dating from 2013. Their biggest entry win remains 5-1 against Nigeria in 1990.
“The team worked well and we recovered some players. We had to adjust some items due to injuries, but we are ready. Tomorrow, we will give everything to start the competition well,"
said Vladimir Petković, coach of Algeria.
Sudan, between history and contemporary challenge
Sudan, the founding nation of the AFCON, participated in the first tournament in 1957 and won a title at home in 1970. Back in the finals for the first time since 2021, the Crocodiles of the Nile know the magnitude of the challenge. Their recent record is heavy. Only one victory out of their last 16 AGCON matches (6 draws, 9 defeats), won against Burkina Faso in 2012. They kept only one clean sheet in that period and failed to score in eight of their last 12 matches in the competition (according to OPTA).
During the qualifiers for the AFCON 2025, Sudan only signed two victories, a total among the lowest of qualified teams.
"This tournament matters a lot to the Sudanese people. We must give our best to make them proud. It is not only important for Sudan, all African nations want to win it, it is one of the most demanding competitions,"
said Kwesi Appiah, coach of Sudan.
Between an Algeria with its back to the wall, eager to turn the page on two successive poor editions and a Sudan driven by the spirit of conquest, this first duel at the AFCON could already weigh heavily in the hierarchy of Group E. A victory would offer valuable momentum; a misstep, an immediate pressure.