The ceremony is expected to feature the biggest names in African football history, such as Egypt’s Essam El Hadary, Cameroon’s Patrick Mboma, Tunisia’s Aymen Mathlouthi, and Ivory Coast’s Gervinho.
CAF announced that the ceremony will feature a music show with top artists in the lineup including Morocco’s Hatim Ammor, Congolese star Maître Gims, and the Moroccan music producer RedOne.
Opening Match: TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025: Opening match will be played Sunday, 21 December 2025;
Final Match: The TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Final Match will be played Sunday, 18 January.
The competition will be played in 9 stadiums. Teams will no longer play two matches in the same day on the same pitch. And another big change, there will be 24 base camps/training grounds (one per team).
The qualified nations are divided into four pots based on their FIFA rankings:
Pot 1: Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire.
Pot 2: Cameroon, Mali, Tunisia, South Africa, DR Congo, and Burkina Faso.
Pot 3: Gabon, Angola, Zambia, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, and Benin.
Pot 4: Mozambique, Comoros, Tanzania, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and Botswana.
During the draw, these national teams will be placed into six groups of four. The top two teams in each group, plus the four best third-placed sides will move to the knockout stage.
