Four mouthwatering quarter-finals await as AFCON 2025 reaches the business end. Here’s everything you need to know about the remaining fixtures.
The last sixteen have become eight. And if you weren’t paying attention to AFCON before, you’d better start now. What’s left in Morocco is an absolute feast of football – four quarter-finals that pit heavyweights against each other in a way that feels almost unfair for the neutral. Someone brilliant has to lose every game.
Here’s your guide to what’s coming over the next few days.
Friday, January 9th
Mali vs Senegal – 5pm GMT, Tangiers
West African derbies don’t come much bigger than this. Two nations who share a border, a history, and an intense footballing rivalry will meet in Tangiers with a semi-final spot on the line.
Senegal are the defending champions from 2022 – yes, technically that’s still their trophy since they defended it successfully in Ivory Coast last year before being eliminated in the quarters. The Lions of Teranga remain the team everyone else would rather avoid. Sadio Mané orchestrates their attack with the kind of intelligence that makes defending against them feel like solving a rubik’s cube blindfolded.
Mali, meanwhile, quietly topped their group with seven points and haven’t lost yet. Captain Yves Bissouma has been rallying his troops with the kind of leadership that suggests they genuinely believe this could be their year.
Prediction? Impossible to call. This feels like a coin flip with high stakes.
Cameroon vs Morocco – 8pm GMT, Rabat
The hosts against the five-time champions. If you only watch one game this weekend, make it this one.
Morocco have been operating at a different level in this tournament. Brahim Diaz leads the scoring charts with four goals – the Real Madrid man has clearly decided that international football with Morocco is where he wants to make his mark. Achraf Hakimi, Sofiane Boufal, and Hakim Ziyech complete an attacking arsenal that would terrify any defence in the world.
But Cameroon aren’t just making up numbers. They beat South Africa to get here – a game many expected them to lose. Bryan Mbeumo, the Brentford winger who’s been terrorising Premier League defences all season, brings the kind of directness that could expose even Morocco’s well-drilled backline.
The crowd in Rabat will be overwhelmingly behind the Atlas Lions. Whether that pressure helps or hinders remains to be seen.
Saturday, January 10th
Algeria vs Nigeria – 5pm GMT, Marrakech
This is the fixture that had everyone reaching for their calendars the moment the draw was made. Two of Africa’s absolute giants, going head to head for a place in the final four.
Nigeria have been sensational. Four wins from four, twelve goals scored, just one conceded. Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, and a supporting cast of Premier League regulars have made the Super Eagles look like genuine favourites to lift the trophy. Their 4-0 demolition of Mozambique in the last sixteen was a statement of intent.
Algeria needed extra time and a moment of magic from Adil Boulbina to squeeze past DR Congo on Tuesday. They’ll have less recovery time than Nigeria – and 120 minutes in their legs that the Super Eagles don’t.
Does that matter? Maybe. Vladimir Petkovic certainly doesn’t seem concerned. “I like these kinds of matches,” he said after the Congo game. “They demand hard work and intensity against teams that are aiming for the title.”
The last time these two met at AFCON was 2019, when Riyad Mahrez won it with a stoppage-time free-kick. History, rivalry, and talent colliding under the Moroccan sun. What more could you want?
Egypt vs Ivory Coast – 8pm GMT, Agadir
Saving the best for last? Perhaps. Seven-time champions Egypt against the defending champions Ivory Coast is the kind of match-up that could easily be a final. Instead, it’s a quarter-final, and one of these footballing superpowers will be heading home on Saturday night.
Mohamed Salah has been carrying Egypt through this tournament. The Liverpool superstar hasn’t quite hit the heights he’s reached in the Premier League, but there’s a sense he’s saving his best for when it matters most. The Pharaohs scraped past Benin 3-1 in the last sixteen – not convincing, but they’re through.
Ivory Coast, by contrast, looked ominous against Burkina Faso. Amad Diallo ran the show in a 3-0 victory that demonstrated exactly why the Elephants are being tipped for back-to-back titles. Emerse Faé has built something special – a team that combines individual brilliance with collective discipline.
“There is a genuine connection, a certain rhythm in the way we play,” Diallo said after the Burkina Faso game. “No one is trying to be the hero.”
When teams play like that, they’re very hard to beat.
The road to Rabat
Semi-finals follow on Wednesday, January 14th. The final takes place on Sunday, January 18th at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat – Morocco’s biggest stage for football’s biggest occasion on the continent.
By then, we’ll know which four teams remain standing. Right now, eight nations still dream of lifting that trophy. By Sunday evening, four will have had their dreams ended.
That’s the beauty – and the cruelty – of knockout football. No second chances. No next time. Just win, or go home.
Buckle up. This is going to be special.
Four mouthwatering quarter-finals await as AFCON 2025 reaches the business end. Here’s everything you need to know about the remaining fixtures.
The last sixteen have become eight. And if you weren’t paying attention to AFCON before, you’d better start now. What’s left in Morocco is an absolute feast of football – four quarter-finals that pit heavyweights against each other in a way that feels almost unfair for the neutral. Someone brilliant has to lose every game.
Here’s your guide to what’s coming over the next few days.
Friday, January 9th
Mali vs Senegal – 5pm GMT, Tangiers
West African derbies don’t come much bigger than this. Two nations who share a border, a history, and an intense footballing rivalry will meet in Tangiers with a semi-final spot on the line.
Senegal are the defending champions from 2022 – yes, technically that’s still their trophy since they defended it successfully in Ivory Coast last year before being eliminated in the quarters. The Lions of Teranga remain the team everyone else would rather avoid. Sadio Mané orchestrates their attack with the kind of intelligence that makes defending against them feel like solving a rubik’s cube blindfolded.
Mali, meanwhile, quietly topped their group with seven points and haven’t lost yet. Captain Yves Bissouma has been rallying his troops with the kind of leadership that suggests they genuinely believe this could be their year.
Prediction? Impossible to call. This feels like a coin flip with high stakes.
Cameroon vs Morocco – 8pm GMT, Rabat
The hosts against the five-time champions. If you only watch one game this weekend, make it this one.
Morocco have been operating at a different level in this tournament. Brahim Diaz leads the scoring charts with four goals – the Real Madrid man has clearly decided that international football with Morocco is where he wants to make his mark. Achraf Hakimi, Sofiane Boufal, and Hakim Ziyech complete an attacking arsenal that would terrify any defence in the world.
But Cameroon aren’t just making up numbers. They beat South Africa to get here – a game many expected them to lose. Bryan Mbeumo, the Brentford winger who’s been terrorising Premier League defences all season, brings the kind of directness that could expose even Morocco’s well-drilled backline.
The crowd in Rabat will be overwhelmingly behind the Atlas Lions. Whether that pressure helps or hinders remains to be seen.
Saturday, January 10th
Algeria vs Nigeria – 5pm GMT, Marrakech
This is the fixture that had everyone reaching for their calendars the moment the draw was made. Two of Africa’s absolute giants, going head to head for a place in the final four.
Nigeria have been sensational. Four wins from four, twelve goals scored, just one conceded. Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, and a supporting cast of Premier League regulars have made the Super Eagles look like genuine favourites to lift the trophy. Their 4-0 demolition of Mozambique in the last sixteen was a statement of intent.
Algeria needed extra time and a moment of magic from Adil Boulbina to squeeze past DR Congo on Tuesday. They’ll have less recovery time than Nigeria – and 120 minutes in their legs that the Super Eagles don’t.
Does that matter? Maybe. Vladimir Petkovic certainly doesn’t seem concerned. “I like these kinds of matches,” he said after the Congo game. “They demand hard work and intensity against teams that are aiming for the title.”
The last time these two met at AFCON was 2019, when Riyad Mahrez won it with a stoppage-time free-kick. History, rivalry, and talent colliding under the Moroccan sun. What more could you want?
Egypt vs Ivory Coast – 8pm GMT, Agadir
Saving the best for last? Perhaps. Seven-time champions Egypt against the defending champions Ivory Coast is the kind of match-up that could easily be a final. Instead, it’s a quarter-final, and one of these footballing superpowers will be heading home on Saturday night.
Mohamed Salah has been carrying Egypt through this tournament. The Liverpool superstar hasn’t quite hit the heights he’s reached in the Premier League, but there’s a sense he’s saving his best for when it matters most. The Pharaohs scraped past Benin 3-1 in the last sixteen – not convincing, but they’re through.
Ivory Coast, by contrast, looked ominous against Burkina Faso. Amad Diallo ran the show in a 3-0 victory that demonstrated exactly why the Elephants are being tipped for back-to-back titles. Emerse Faé has built something special – a team that combines individual brilliance with collective discipline.
“There is a genuine connection, a certain rhythm in the way we play,” Diallo said after the Burkina Faso game. “No one is trying to be the hero.”
When teams play like that, they’re very hard to beat.
The road to Rabat
Semi-finals follow on Wednesday, January 14th. The final takes place on Sunday, January 18th at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat – Morocco’s biggest stage for football’s biggest occasion on the continent.
By then, we’ll know which four teams remain standing. Right now, eight nations still dream of lifting that trophy. By Sunday evening, four will have had their dreams ended.
That’s the beauty – and the cruelty – of knockout football. No second chances. No next time. Just win, or go home.
Buckle up. This is going to be special.
