AFCON 2025 Recap: Côte d'Ivoire's Successor and the Continent's New Pecking Order

The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, held in Morocco in January and February, concluded with Senegal lifting the trophy after a one-nil win over Egypt in the final at the Grand Stade de Casablanca. The tournament was the first AFCON staged in Morocco since 1988, and the country's investment in new and refurbished stadiums produced an environment that several visiting federations described as the best they had experienced at a continental tournament. The football itself, played at high tempo across a compressed schedule, produced moments that will shape the 2026 World Cup conversation for the African contingent.

Senegal's triumph confirmed the squad's position as the most consistent African national team of the current generation. The starting eleven contained nine players based at European clubs, with the spine of Edouard Mendy in goal, Kalidou Koulibaly at center back, Idrissa Gueye in midfield and Sadio Mané in attack providing the experience that anchored a younger group of players. Manager Aliou Cissé, who has led the team since 2015, has built a system that emphasizes defensive solidity and quick transitions, and the tournament victory was achieved with the lowest goals-conceded total of any AFCON winner in the past two decades.

Egypt's run to the final was the most surprising story of the tournament. The team had not advanced beyond the quarter-finals at the previous two AFCONs, and the manager had been the subject of significant criticism going into the competition. Mohamed Salah, in what may be his final continental tournament, produced the kind of performances that supporters had been hoping to see from him in Egyptian colors for several years. The semi-final win over hosts Morocco, achieved through a Salah penalty in the eighty-eighth minute, produced one of the most memorable matches in recent African football history.

Morocco's elimination at the semi-final stage was the disappointment of the tournament for the host federation. The squad, which had reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2022 and which arrived at the AFCON as one of the favorites, produced strong group-stage performances but did not find the same defensive solidity in the knockout rounds. Manager Walid Regragui's tactical decisions in the semi-final, including the substitution patterns in the second half, produced significant criticism in the Moroccan press, although the broader assessment of his tenure remains positive.

Côte d'Ivoire, the defending champions, exited at the quarter-final stage. The team's performance was professional rather than inspired, and the manager's decision to retire from the role after the tournament was not a surprise. The Ivorian squad has talent in depth, but the generational transition that has produced several of the country's strongest players from European academies has not yet translated into a settled national team identity. The 2026 World Cup will be the next test of whether the squad's tactical questions can be resolved before the tournament's biggest stage.

Nigeria's tournament was the most surprising negative story. The team, which had reached the final at the previous AFCON, exited in the group stage after a series of performances that produced widespread criticism of the manager and of the team's preparation. The Super Eagles will not be at the 2026 World Cup, having failed to navigate the African qualifying campaign that was reorganized after the tournament. The failure has produced significant institutional changes within the Nigerian federation, and the rebuild will likely take several cycles to produce a competitive team again.

South Africa's run to the semi-finals was the most encouraging story among the African teams that will be at the World Cup. The squad, managed by Hugo Broos in his second tournament with the team, produced disciplined performances that combined defensive structure with the attacking quality of younger players like Lyle Foster. South Africa qualified for the World Cup with margin, and the AFCON performance has elevated the federation's expectations for the larger tournament in a way that may add productive pressure to the squad's preparation.

The broader picture from the tournament is that African football's pecking order is in flux. Senegal sits at the top with a credible claim to being the strongest squad on the continent. Morocco remains a tier-one program despite the AFCON setback. Egypt has reestablished itself as a tournament side. The next group, including Algeria, Cameroon, South Africa and Ghana, is competitive in ways that the previous decade did not consistently produce. The nine African nations heading to the 2026 World Cup represent a continent that is more competitive at the top and deeper through the middle than at any previous World Cup. The tournament in North America will be the next chapter of that story.