Will a new champion emerge at AFCON 2025, or will history repeat itself?
As Morocco prepares to host the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026, the spotlight is on whether the tournament will produce a new champion or see one of the continent’s football giants reclaim the title.
This will be the second time Morocco is staging the competition, the first being in 1988.
Since the inception of the AFCON in 1957, 15 different countries have won the tournament. The 2025 edition brings together 24 teams, half of which have previously lifted the AFCON trophy and the other half have never tasted glory.
These 12 past champions represent some of the established powerhouses of African football, including record seven-time winners Egypt, defending champions Ivory Coast, three-time winners Nigeria, and five-time champions Cameroon.
Past champions
Grouped across all six pools, these teams bring varying degrees of historical success:
Group A: Morocco (hosts) - Won the title in 1976. Zambia - Won the title in 2012.
Group B: Egypt - Record seven-time champions, winning titles including 1957, 1959, and completing a hat-trick between 2006 and 2010. South Africa - Won on home soil in 1996.
Group C: Nigeria - Three-time champions, winning titles in 1980, 1994, and 2013. Tunisia - Won the title in 2004.
Group D: Senegal - Champions of AFCON 2021. DR Congo - Two-time winners, having won the competition in 1968 (as Congo (Kinshasa)) and 1974 (as Zaire).
Group E: Algeria - Two-time champions, winning in 1990 and 2019. Sudan - Won the title in 1970.
Group F: Cote d'Ivoire - The defending champions and three-time winners, with victories in 1992, 2015, and 2023. Cameroon - Five-time champions, winning titles including 1984, 1988, 2000, 2002, and 2017.
Non-winning nations
The tournament also includes 12 nations that have never claimed the title. These teams, which are also spread across all six groups, include Mali, Burkina Faso, and Uganda, who have each reached the final once in the past but fell short.
For others like Comoros, Botswana, and Mozambique, reaching the knockout stages would itself mark a milestone.
Full list of non-winners and their groups:
Group A: - Mali (finalist in 1972), Comoros
Group B: - Angola,Zimbabwe
Group C: - Uganda (finalist in 1978), Tanzania
Group D: Benin, Botswana
Group E: Burkina Faso (finalist in 1978), Equatorial Guinea
Group F: Gabon, Mozambique
With the first kickoff just days away, the question remains whether AFCON 2025 will see one of the 12 non-winning nations break new ground or whether a past champion will rise again.
With every group featuring a mix of experience and ambition, the potential for an upset is present, but so is the likelihood of history asserting itself once more.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
