The draw for the 2025/26 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations takes place in Rabat, as the 24 teams learn their opponents for the 35th edition of the tournament.
Defending champions Ivory Coast – who dramatically won in 2023 after sacking coach Jean-Louis Gasset mid-tournament – are among the sides to contest the trophy, along with 2023’s beaten finalists Nigeria and host nation Morocco.
Other African heavyweights in the draw include seven-time champions Egypt, who will likely be led by Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush, as well as five-time winners Cameroon. There is no place for Ghana, however, after they failed to qualify for the first time since 2004.
The tournament will begin on 21 December and will run until the final at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium on 18 January 2026. Follow the latest updates from the draw in Rabat here:
How will the draw work?
Hosts Morocco will be drawn first from pot 1 and will be placed as the first team in Group A. The teams from pot 4 will then randomly drawn one by one and sequentially placed from Group A to Group F.
Once all the teams from pot 4 have been drawn, the teams in pot 3 will be similarly placed sequentially from Group A to Group F, then pot 2 likewise before the remaining five teams in pot 1 (with Morocco already heading Group A) will be drawn sequentially from Group B to Group F.
The top two teams in each pool, as well as the four best third-placed teams, will qualify for the round of 16 at Afcon 2025.
Chris Wilson27 January 2025 16:30
When is the Afcon 2025 draw?
The draw for Afcon 2025 takes place in the Mohammed V National Theatre in Rabat, Morocco on 27 January at 6pm GMT (7pm local time).
Chris Wilson27 January 2025 16:20
Afcon draw LIVE
The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations runs from 21 December of this year until 18 January 2026 and today sees the draw to determine who plays who in the group stage.
With qualification having taken place throughout 2024, a total of 23 teams, plus hosts Morocco, have qualified to play at the 35th edition of Afcon, which will be taking place in the north African country for the first time since 1988.
Under Fae, the Elephants beat defending champions Senegal on penalties in the last 16, downed Mali after extra-time in the quarter-finals and then bested DR Congo in the semi-finals. That set up a final against Nigeria, which they won 2-1 thanks to second-half goals from Franck Kessie and Sebastian Haller to claim the Afcon crown for the first time since 2015.
Chris Wilson27 January 2025 16:10
Africa Cup of Nations draw LIVE
Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the draw for the 2025/26 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations.
The draw for the group stage takes place in Rabat from around 6pm GMT, and we’ll have all the latest updates here.
Chris Wilson27 January 2025 16:00
