Afcon 2025: Meet the contenders for African football's biggest prize

Can Morocco justify their tag as favourites on home soil? Could Mohamed Salah win an elusive title with Egypt? Can Nigeria bounce back from World Cup playoff disappointment? Could Riyad Mahrez and Sadio Mane be key for Algeria and Senegal? Or can Ivory Coast make it back to back titles?

Former South Africa captain Dean Furman and the former Sierra Leone captain Steven Caulker joins Lee James and John Bennett to preview the tournament to answer these questions and more in our Africa Cup of Nations preview.

They discuss who could go well at the African Cup of Nations, who could cause an upset and which players could shine at the tournament.

Timecodes:

04:45 – Interview with Morocco’s Sofyan Amrabat 07:30 – Can Morocco win as favourites? 11:00 – Interview with former Zambia forward Kalusha Bwalya 15:25 – Will talk around Mohamed Salah be a distraction for Egypt? 18:00 – Are South Africa good enough to win? 23:00 – Interview with Nigeria’s Frank Onyeka 24:45 – Does Victor Osimhen need to prove he is one of the best players in Africa? 27:50 – Interview with former Tunisia captain Radhi Jaidi 31:10 – Senegal focus 33:30 – DR Congo focus 36:00 – Algeria focus 39:25 – Interview with Sudan’s Abo Eisa 40:30 – Ivory Coast focus 43:05 – Cameroon focus 45:50 – Prediction time – players of the tournament, surprise team and winners

GROUPS

Group A – Morocco, Mali, Zambia, Comoros Group B - Egypt, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe Group C – Nigeria, Tunisia, Uganda, Tanzania Group D – Senegal, DR Congo, Benin, Botswana Group E – Algeria, Burkina Faso, Equitorial Guinea, Sudan Group F – Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Gabon, Mozambique