AFCON 2025 qualifying: the winners and losers

Morocco, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Algeria, DR Congo, Senegal, Egypt, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Uganda, South Africa, Tunisia, Nigeria, Mali, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Comoros, Sudan, Benin, Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique. Those are the 24 nations qualified for AFCON 2025, which runs from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026. They are 24 nations who will try to succeed Ivory Coast as African champions.

The highs

Morocco and Brahim Diaz on fire

Already through as hosts of AFCON 2025, Morocco used the qualifiers to sharpen their tools and send a strong message to the whole continent: anyone hoping to get ahead of them in the race for the trophy will face a tough task. The Atlas Lions won all six of their games, the only side to do so. Walid Regragui's men also scored 26 goals, the best attack. Brahim Diaz took full advantage, netting 7, including a hat-trick against Gabon on matchday 6. The Real Madrid player is the campaign's top scorer, even though he missed matchdays 3 and 4 in October through injury. The 24-year-old is simply monstrous.

Comoros and Benin return

Pleasant surprises at the 2021 edition in Cameroon, Comoros will be at AFCON 2025 as well. The Coelacanths will therefore play in their 2nd Africa Cup of Nations. And to top it off, the Comorians finished top of their qualifying group, ahead of Tunisia, Gambia and Madagascar. A huge achievement. Comoros, on their first appearance in 2021, reached the last 16.

Benin will be there too. Under Gernot Rohr, the Cheetahs have booked their place, marking a return. Benin had not played at AFCON since the 2019 edition in Egypt. Gabon, for their part, are back for the first time since 2021.

Read also: Benin, Gabon, Comoros... the teams making their AFCON comeback

The lows

Ghana, Guinea, Cape Verde: a collapse

Disappointment, professional misconduct, collective failure... there are plenty of ways to describe Ghana's calamitous qualifying campaign. The Black Stars. The Ghanaians, who will watch AFCON 2025 on TV, did not even win a game in Group F, which also featured Angola, Niger and Sudan. Worse still, the team-mates of Iñaki Williams finished bottom with a meagre 3 points. Ghana will miss an AFCON for the 1st time since 2004.

The other disaster belongs to Guinea. Syli Nationale needed at least a draw to seal qualification for AFCON 2025. But, like France against Bulgaria in qualifying for Euro 2016, the Guineans lost 0-1. Serhou Guirassy and his team-mates are therefore out, to everyone's surprise. The same goes for Cape Verde, quarter-finalists in Ivory Coast, who will not be at the party.

Libya, a disgrace

During the October international break, Libya were due to host Nigeria. But the match was never played. The Nigerians had their plane diverted hundreds of kilometres from its intended destination. They were then kept in an airport for 12 hours, without water or food. They even had to sleep on the floor. The Super Eagles then decided not to play that matchday 4 fixture and to go home. The CAF (thankfully) awarded Nigeria the win by default, which moved the Super Eagles closer to qualifying for AFCON 2025.

On matchday 6 on Monday, it was Benin's turn to travel to Libya. The Cheetahs secured their place at AFCON 2025. But, to their shock, their bus was attacked in the streets of Libya. Coach Gernot Rohr and members of staff were injured. It remains to be seen whether the CAF will investigate to determine whether security measures had been taken to protect the Beninese bus.