The wedding of the African continent begins today with the match between Morocco and the Comoros

The attention of African football fans is tonight to watch the opening of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, which returns to Morocco after an absence of 37 years, amid expectations of an exceptional edition at the organizational and technical levels.

The opening ceremony constitutes a distinctive event that goes beyond the sporting nature, according to a statement issued by the organizing committee, through an artistic and cultural display that reflects the Moroccan identity and its African extension, and embodies the position that Morocco now occupies as one of the most prominent organizers of continental and international championships.

The 35th edition of the African Nations will begin at 23:00 UAE time, with a confrontation between the Moroccan national team and its counterpart, the Comoros national team, at Prince Moulay Abdullah Stadium in Rabat, amid an expected large audience presence.

The Moroccan national team, the host of the tournament, enters the match with ambitions to compete for the title, relying on a group of its professional stars in Europe, most notably Achraf Hakimi and Ibrahim Diaz, without the presence of any player from the “Atlas Lions” list, which recently won the Arab Cup title, after national coach Walid Regragui chose a list of players in the European leagues.

On the other hand, the Comoros national team will enter the match without pressure in its second participation in the history of the African Cup of Nations, seeking to provide a competitive performance and repeat its remarkable appearance in the 2021 edition when it reached the knockout rounds.

Tournament and group system

24 teams will participate in the tournament, divided into six groups, with 36 matches played in the group stage, and the top two teams in each group, in addition to the four best third-placed teams, qualify for the knockout rounds.

The competitions will be completed with rounds of quarter-finals, quarter-finals, and semi-finals, leading to the final match scheduled for next January 18 in the capital, Rabat, with a single-match knockout system.

The tournament matches will be held in nine stadiums located in six cities: Rabat, Casablanca, Fez, Tangier, Marrakesh and Agadir, which are the same cities nominated to host the World Cup matches in 2030.

The variety of stadium capacity, between large and medium, gives the organizing committee great flexibility in programming the matches according to their importance and the fans of the participating teams, which ensures that the stands are full and creates an enthusiastic atmosphere in all matches.

The capacity of the stadiums in Tangier (68,000 thousand people) and Rabat (Moulay Abdellah, 69,500 thousand people) will be the largest among the stadiums of the continental championship, while the smallest is the Post Stadium in the capital, with a capacity of 18 thousand.

Numbers and facts

Egypt is the team that has won the most African Cup of Nations titles, with 7 titles, followed by Cameroon with 5 titles, then Ghana with 4 titles, while Nigeria and Ivory Coast have 3 titles each.

The Egyptian team is also considered the most participating team in the history of the tournament, with 27 participations, while the Comoros and Botswana are the least participating, with only two participations. The 2025 edition will witness the absence of the Ghana national team, in a remarkable irony, after qualifying for the World Cup and failing to qualify for the continental finals.

The tournament witnesses the participation of an elite group of African football stars, most notably Mohamed Salah, Victor Osimhen, Achraf Hakimi, Ibrahim Diaz, Riyad Mahrez, Sadio Mane, and Franck Kessie, amid expectations of a high technical level and the emergence of a new generation of young talents.