Can Salah finally lift Afcon trophy as Morocco eye home glory?

After an intense debate on player availability and the timing of the tournament, the focus has begun to shift to the pitch as another mid-season edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) kicks off in Morocco on Sunday.

On the face of it, the two main talking points ahead of the 2025 finals are whether the host nation can extend their world record run of 18 consecutive wins and claim just a second title, and if Mohamed Salah will finally lift the trophy with Egypt.

The 33-year-old’s future at Liverpool has dominated headlines since his explosive assertion on 6 December that he has been “thrown under the bus” by the club.

After making his return from the bench at Anfield last Saturday, Salah will now be focused on his fifth attempt to clinch the continent’s biggest prize – especially after two previous defeats in finals.

But concentrating on just two topics would not do justice to a unique tournament characterised by unpredictability.

Ivory Coast delivered a remarkable home success in February last year, having sacked their coach during the group stage, while Senegal’s fine form was underlined by their win over England in June.

Elsewhere, Nigeria aim to go one better than at the 2023 finals but fellow heavyweights Cameroon appear, from the outside, to be in chaos – with both countries looking to make amends after missing out on the 2026 Fifa World Cup.

With seven different winners from the past eight editions, Morocco 2025 is certain to be a compelling watch as sides battle for a trophy hailed as the “holy grail of African football” by Benin assistant coach Tunde Adelakun.

“It’s so hard to win the Africa Cup of Nations. People love us a lot, but if [you] win they will never forget you,” Morocco midfielder Sofyan Amrabat told the BBC World Service.

The Atlas Lions are the favourites, given they have home advantage and have been the continent’s top-ranked side since their historic run to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup.

Their streak of victories – which surpassed Spain’s previous record of 15 – comes with the caveat that the only side inside the world’s top 50 they have beaten is Tunisia (at 49 in the world at the time of Morocco’s 2-0 win in June).

For coach Walid Regragui and his players, who exited in the last 16 in 2023, it will be a case of managing pressure.

Tickets to watch the hosts sold out within hours, and home fans expect to be in Rabat on 18 January to celebrate a first Afcon trophy since 1976.

Influential captain Achraf Hakimi is racing to be fit, but even if the newly-crowned African player of the year remains absent then Morocco should cruise into the knockout stage.

“I think we have to try to create an atmosphere like we had in Qatar – everybody behind us,” former Manchester United man Amrabat said.

“In Africa the most important [thing] is that you play with your heart. The fans can push us a lot. We need this energy, we have to show intensity.

“I think if we can do that, with our quality then we can go very far.”

Earlier this year members of Gen Z protested about the money being invested into football infrastructure ahead of Morocco co-hosting the 2030 World Cup, while recent flash floods in the coastal Safi region killed at least 37 people.

Organisers will be wary of further disruptions during Afcon as the country looks to underline its status as Africa’s preeminent football nation.

Another mid-season Afcon has once again caused issues for European clubs – yet the Confederation of African Football (Caf) had few options over its timing once Fifa’s expanded Club World Cup was scheduled for June and July this year.

With more Champions League dates in an increasingly congested calendar, the world governing body eventually stepped in and said that players only needed to be released seven days before the finals – rather than the 14 required before most major tournaments.

That threw the preparations of several nations into disarray, with Mali coach Tom Saintfiet branding the decision “catastrophic”.

“The world needs to respect African football,” the Belgian added.

Mali’s Group A opponents Comoros, whose entire squad is based overseas, were forced to curtail a training camp and cancel a friendly, affecting preparations to take on Morocco in the opening game (Sunday, 19:00 GMT).

“We are angry about that; it was not correct to tell us [about the change in release date] just one week before,” Coelacanths coach Stefano Cusin said.

“If we’d known from the beginning, then we could have made a different plan.”

Caf remains committed to staging its showpiece every two years – not least because the tournament is its main generator of revenue, and that regular income is required to reinvest in the African game.

In terms of other potential challengers, South Africa have built a cohesive unit under Hugo Broos, who led Cameroon to glory in 2017.

Algeria boast the top scorer in African World Cup preliminaries in Mohamed Amoura, who plundered 10 goals, and the North Africans look well set to progress to the knockout stage for the first time in three editions.

Five-time winners Cameroon, meanwhile, endured a turbulent build-up as federation president Samuel Eto’o dismissed coach Marc Brys and goalkeeper Andre Onana and striker Vincent Aboubakar were both omitted from the squad.

“We wanted to do things differently. They are good players, but we set our sights on others to create a different mindset,” said new Indomitable Lions coach David Pagou.

There are no debutants, although Sudan remarkably qualified despite playing all their qualifiers away from home because of the country’s ongoing civil war.

Botswana, Mozambique and Tanzania are all searching for their maiden Afcon wins – and aiming to progress past the group stage for the first time – with the latter also building towards co-hosting in 2027 alongside East African neighbours Kenya and Uganda.

With 12 former champions in the field a first-time winner seems improbable, but seasoned watchers know to always expect the unexpected at the Cup of Nations.