South Africa will face Mohamed Salah-captained Egypt while Ademola Lookman-inspired Nigeria must tackle Tunisia after the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations group stage draw was made in Rabat on Monday. Hosts Morocco face giantkillers Comoros in the opening match of the 24-team tournament on December 21 while title-holders Ivory Coast will come up against five-time winners Cameroon. Sudan, a country ravaged by civil war, drew Algeria, and the clash of Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo is set to be another group-stage highlight.   

Prolific scorer Salah has won multiple honours with Liverpool, but victory in the AFCON has eluded him. He came closest by finishing a runner-up in 2017 and 2022.

Apart from South Africa, the record seven-time champions will take on two other countries from the south of the continent, Angola and Zimbabwe, in Group B. 

Nigeria, runners-up to the Ivory Coast last year, are blessed with outstanding forwards, including African Footballer of the Year Lookman and his predecessor Victor Osimhen. 

Tunisia, making a record 17th consecutive AFCON appearance, and east African contenders Uganda and Tanzania complete Group C.

Amad Diallo, scorer of a recent hat-trick for Manchester United against Southampton, is a likely starter for Ivory Coast, who will also meet Gabon and Mozambique in Group F.  

With home advantage and Europe-based stars like Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi, Morocco will be hoping to become the fourth AFCON hosts this century to lift the trophy. 

In the previous 13 editions from 2000, only Tunisia in 2004, Egypt two years later and the Ivory Coast in 2024 have triumphed at home.  

And all three triumphs were hard earned with Tunisia edging Morocco 2-1, Egypt pipping the Ivory Coast in a penalty shootout and the Ivorians coming from behind to beat Nigeria 2-1 last year.

Ivory Coast are the only country to have been crowned champions twice in the past eight editions of a competition first staged in 1957 and won by Egypt in Khartoum.

The other champions were Egypt, for a record seventh time in 2010, Zambia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Algeria and Senegal.

CAF president Patrick Motsepe from South Africa told reporters he believes the first AFCON to span two years will also be the most successful.

“I am extremely excited about the AFCON in Morocco — it is going to be the most successful yet. Ivory Coast raised the bar last year and now we must reach even greater heights.

Originally slated for mid-2025, the tournament had to be delayed because to avoid clashing with the maiden edition of the revamped FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.

“The new dates will not affect the tournament. Africa boasts many exceptionally talented footballers and all of them will be in Morocco,” added Motsepe.

Hosting the AFCON is viewed as a crucial part of the Moroccan build-up toward the 2030 World Cup, which the kingdom will co-host with Spain and Portugal.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup in 1930 in Uruguay, that country, Argentina and Paraguay will host one match each before the tournament moves to Europe and Africa.      

Draw

Group A

Morocco, Mali, Zambia, Comoros 

Group B

Egypt, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe

Group C

Nigeria, Tunisia, Uganda, Tanzania

Group D

Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin, Botswana

Group E

Algeria, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan

Group F

Ivory Coast (holders), Cameroon, Gabon, Mozambique

Twenty-seven migrants, including women and children, died after two boats capsized off central Tunisia, with 83 people rescued, a civil defence official told AFP on Thursday (January 2, 2024).

The rescued and dead passengers, who were found off the Kerkennah Islands off central Tunisia, were aiming to reach Europe and were all from sub-Saharan African countries, said Zied Sdiri, head of civil defence in the city of Sfax.

Searches were still underway for other possible missing passengers, according to the Tunisian National Guard, which oversees the coastguard.

Tunisia is a key departure point for irregular migrants seeking to reach Europe with Italy, whose island of Lampedusa is only 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Tunisia, often their first port of call.

Each year, tens of thousands of people attempt the perilous Mediterranean crossing, which has seen a spate of recent shipwrecks, with the dangers exacerbated by bad weather.

On December 18, at least 20 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa died in a shipwreck off the city of Sfax, with five others missing.

Earlier on December 12, the coastguard rescued 27 African migrants near Jebeniana, north of Sfax, but 15 were reported dead or missing.

Since the beginning of the year, the Tunisian human rights group FTDES has counted “between 600 and 700” migrants killed or missing in shipwrecks off Tunisia. More than 1,300 migrants died or disappeared in 2023.

Tunis:

Tunisian President Kais Saied sacked his Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani without explanation on Wednesday and replaced him with social affairs minister Kamel Madouri, his office said in a statement.

Hachani had taken office on August 1 last year, replacing Najla Bouden, who was also dismissed without an official reason by Saied.

The president was democratically elected in 2019 but orchestrated a sweeping power grab in 2021 and is now seeking another term in office in elections on October 6.

The constitution was rewritten in 2022 to create a presidential regime whose parliament has extremely limited powers. 

Hachani had earlier on Wednesday published a statement about government meetings to address difficulties affecting public transport.

Madouri had only taken on the social affairs portfolio in May.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)