The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations enters its business end of the tournament when eight nations battle for four tickets into the semi-final, and not since the expansion of this competition from 16 to 24 countries has the quarter-finalist been more revered and iconic like this.
This is the 35th edition of the AFCON, and seven of the eight countries in this quarter-finals have won the competition 22 times (Egypt 7, Cameroun 5, Nigeria 3, Ivory Coast 3, Algeria 2, Morocco 1, Senegal 1), with Mali, the only country left without an AFCON trophy. This number represents that, in the history of the AFCON, 64.71% of it has been won by these 7 countries.
In the latest FIFA Ranking (December 2025), eight of the remaining countries in this tournament are ranked in the top ten of the Africa ratings. Morocco ranked 1st, Senegal 2nd, Algeria 3rd, Egypt 4th, Nigeria 5th, Cote D’Ivoire 7th, Mali 8th and Cameroun 10th.
The quarter-final stage will throw African heavyweights against one another, and these games promise to light up the continent with old rivalries rekindled and the best talents the continent has to offer trying to usurp one another in pursuit of National glory.
SENEGAL VS MALI
Senegal’s battle against Mali looks like the only lopsided tie going into these games because Mali is the only country yet to taste AFCON glory among the Octet. Although Mali finished second in 1972, third in 2012 and 2013, and Senegal experienced a taste of what an AFCON final feels like, having come second the only time Mali hosted the rest of the continent in 2002.
The Eagles of Mali have reached this stage without winning a single game; they drew all their group stage matches and needed a penalty shootout to defeat Tunisia in the last round. Mali are also the least scoring team left, with only three goals scored so far, while no team has been awarded more penalties than Mali’s three.
For Senegal, they are the second-highest scoring in this tournament (10) behind Nigeria (12), and after the disappointment of their title defence in 2023, the Teranga Lions will fancy their chances against a goal-shy but dogged Malians.
MOROCCO VS CAMEROUN
Host Morocco have one objective at this tournament, and it is to host and win, as ten other countries have done before them, but in Cameroun, they face a country that is buzzing with optimism, while channeling outside distractions and fracas to something good on the football pitch.
Morocco’s football has been on the rise in the last few years; they became the first African country to play in the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup, when they finished fourth at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar while their age-grade and women’s team have been a force to reckon with but the crowning moment for Moroccan football will be the country finally getting their hands on the golden trophy for the first time since 1976.
In Brahim Diaz, the top scorer with four goals, current African footballer of the year (2025) Achraf Hakimi, CAF best goalkeeper Yaccine Bonou, and a host of other talented players, backed with a passionate and vociferous football fans, believe is high among the Moroccan faithful on winning the tournament.
If one team has defied expectations coming into this tournament, it has to be the indomitable Lions of Cameroun.
Fresh from missing out on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, FECAFOOT President, the legendary Samuel Eto’o, sacking of manager Marc Brys with weeks to the start of the tournament was a tip of the iceberg, the eventual dropping of household names like Andre Onana, Vincent Aboubakar, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, and the injury suffered by Zambo Anguissa meant fans were sceptical about the kind of Camerounian team that would show up.
In Bryan Mbeumo, Carlos Baleba, and the new kid on the block, Christian Kofane, the five-time African Champions have rewritten expectations and will look to continue their journey at the tournament.
When Morocco hosted the rest of the continent in 1988, they met Cameroun in the semi-final stage, with the Camerounians progressing to the final courtesy of a goal by Thomas Makanaky. In the final, Cameroun defeated Nigeria to win their second title.
Could history repeat itself?
NIGERIA VS ALGERIA
No country has lost more AFCON finals than Nigeria (5), and one of the three countries to have defeated them in the final was Algeria, who did so in 1990.
Nigeria have been arguably the best team at this tournament; they are the only team to have won all four games in 90 minutes, they have scored the most goals (12), and in Ademola Lookman, they have the player with the most goal involvement in the tournament, with 7 (3 goals, 4 assists).
For all Nigeria’s prowess going forward, the team have kept just one clean sheet and have conceded the most goals (4) among teams left in the tournament.
When Algeria won their second AFCON title in 2019, few would have predicted it would take the country three editions after to play a knockout game, with group stage elimination coming in the 2021 and 2023 editions.
The Algerians have channeled those disgraceful outings to something tangible at this edition, with the Desert Foxes having the joint best defensive record alongside Morocco, with one goal conceded. Captain Riyad Mahrez has led with experience at the front line, while Borussia Dortmund’s Ramy Bensebaini has led with poise at the back.
Nigerians are still stuck between hailing Riyad Mahrez’s ingenuity or blaming goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi for the free-kick goal scored by the former, the last time both sides met at the semi-final stage of the 2019 edition in Egypt.
Will Nigeria get its revenge, or will Algeria dent another hammer in the Eagles’ net?
EGYPT VS COTE D’IVOIRE
The last time a champion defended their AFCON crown was back in 2010, when Egypt won the last of their seventh crown in Angola. The Pharaohs have the task of stopping a repeat of that when they lock horns with 2023 Champion Cote D’Ivoire.
Côte d’Ivoire won the last AFCON on home soil in one of football’s greatest storylines. The Ivorians were on the verge of elimination at the group stage and only qualified as one of the third-best-placed teams, scraped through Senegal, Mali, and DR Congo in the knockout round before coming from behind to beat Nigeria in the final.
The Ivorians have had a different journey so far; led by Manchester United’s Amad Diallo, they have played some of the most pleasing football in this tournament.
Mo Salah left Liverpool for the AFCON last December with his future at the club facing uncertainties, but the Egyptian captain has found a new breadth of fresh air with Egypt at the tournament. Salah has scored three goals at the tournament, and with the added incentive of finally winning the AFCON for his country, he has unfinished business in Morocco.
Côte d’Ivoire was the first country Egypt defeated in their three-in-a-row AFCON triumph, which started in 2006 and ended in 2010. The last time they defeated Egypt in an AFCON game was back in 1990.
Will the Ivorians finally get one over the record winners?