World Cup semifinalist Morocco was drawn in a group with Mali, Zambia and Comoros on Monday for the men’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations it will host.
The Dec. 21-Jan. 18 tournament will be the biggest football event in Morocco before co-hosting the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal — the teams it eliminated at the 2022 World Cup to become the first African nation ever to reach the semifinals. Morocco then lost to France.
At the last Africa Cup, one year ago, Morocco was surprisingly ousted in the round of 16 by South Africa.
Ivory Coast won that Africa Cup as the host nation and will begin the defense of its title in a group with Cameroon, Gabon and Mozambique.
Nigeria, the beaten finalist last year with star strikers Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen, is in a group with Tunisia, Uganda and Tanzania.
Egypt, with Mohamed Salah still seeking a first Africa Cup title at age 33 when games start in December, was drawn into a group with South Africa, Angola and Zimbabwe.
Senegal, the 2021 champion, will face Congo, Benin and Botswana.
Algeria, which won the 2019 title, was drawn with Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea and Sudan.
Games will be played in six cities: Agadir, Casablanca, Fez, Marrakesh, Rabat and Tangier.
The tournament has an earlier scheduled start in mid-December and will finish in time for players with European clubs to return for the Champions League resuming in late January. Less than six months later, many of those players will be at the 2026 World Cup co-hosted in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Africa will have nine direct entries at the first 48-team World Cup.
