Africa Cup of Nations: The nominated teams show their fangs

The matches of the first round of the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 concluded on Wednesday evening, just four days after the start of the 35th edition of the competition.

12 matches were held for the six groups, 11 of which ended in victories, while only one draw was recorded between Mali and Zambia 1-1.

The participating teams rested on Thursday, and the second round competitions would resume on Friday, with four matches.

No surprises

The senior national team entered the competition on Wednesday, where it faced Sudan on the grounds of Prince Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat.

The Desert Warriors were convinced by their good performance and great effectiveness in front of goal, as they scored three goals while their goalkeeper Luca Zidane did not concede.

Like the Greens, the Burkinabe team, the second most prominent candidate in Group E, achieved a well-deserved, albeit hard-fought, victory after coming back from a goal down against Equatorial Guinea to win (2-1) in extra time.

🎥 HIGHLIGHTS: 🇧🇫 2-1 🇬🇶

Burkina Faso with a mind-blowing comeback to win their #TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 opener. pic.twitter.com/AXoC3cpYLi

— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) December 24, 2025

The Moroccan national team opened its campaign with a victory over the Comoros in the first group.

The Bafana Bafana team, South Africa, defeated Angola 2-1.

Egypt won Zimbabwe with the same result in the second group.

The Egyptian and South African teams will meet in a strong clash during the second round, Friday, at four o’clock in the evening.

🔢🔝 pic.twitter.com/IzGyIlC3cj

— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) December 25, 2025

The Senegalese team that won the Cameroon 2021 tournament started; The competition was strong as well, as they scored a hat-trick against Botswana.

The Democratic Republic of Congo team joined the Teranga Lions at the top of Group D, after defeating Benin with an unanswered goal in a match that witnessed a controversial arbitration situation.

Bongonda’s magic touch. 🇨🇩✨#TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 pic.twitter.com/xjo0INRSQv

— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) December 23, 2025

The video technology was disrupted for about a quarter of an hour at the Medina Stadium in Rabat, preventing South African referee Abongile Tom from reviewing the footage of Congolese defender Chancel Mamba touching the ball with his hand.

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨

What an arbitration disaster in Africa!!!!!

During the match between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Benin in the African Cup

There was a clear handball on the Congolese player. The referee returned to the video technology, but the mouse was broken and did not work!!!!

Continue playing without counting Plenty! pic.twitter.com/eo1KUwZFl3

– Nawaf Al-Asian 🇸🇦 (@football_li5) December 24, 2025

In the third group, the Nigerian team surpassed its Tanzanian counterpart by two goals to one, while the Tunisian team did not find much difficulty in overthrowing Uganda.

The defending champion, the Ivory Coast team, settled for a goal from its star Amad Diallo, the English Manchester United striker, to beat Mozambique.

A stunning finish from Amad Diallo. Today’s @1xBet_Eng Goal of the Day! 🤩🇨🇮#TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 pic.twitter.com/LxsFghcCxx

— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) December 25, 2025

The curtain fell on the first round matches, facing Cameroon and Gabon in Group Six.

The early goal (minute 6), scored by Levante’s Spanish striker Eta Iong, gave the Untamed Lions the three points to share first place with Ivory Coast.

Fast, dynamic and entertaining. This is Matchday 1 in numbers. 🔢🙌#TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 pic.twitter.com/s5o07P2KJ8

— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) December 25, 2025