Salah goals & Hakimi return – six things from Afcon 2025’s group stage

The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) will soon host the knockout stage, but the big boys have already had their own way.

Egypt earned a comfortable passage with seven points thanks to Mohamed Salah’s goals, and Algeria and Nigeria were the only two nations to have won all three of their games.

However, there are also several teams trying to make the last 16 crazy.

The top 12 ranked teams have all made progress this time with little fuss despite Algeria, Tunisia, and Ghana having failed to do so two years ago.

Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, and Ivory Coast were the other group winners along with Algeria, whose captain Riyad Mahrez has scored three goals in the top three goalscoring positions.

Mozambique made it memorable when a surprise arrived.

The 102nd-ranked team won their 17th game of the Afcon finals by beating Gabon deservedly to advance.

The Gabonese government reacted to losing all three group games by firing the entire coaching staff, suspending the players, and outlawing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Not just Zimbabwe is the first country to reach the top.

Tanzania faces Morocco in Rabat after progressing despite only collecting two points in their final twelve games since their debut in 1980.

No third-place finisher had previously achieved this feat with fewer than three points since Afcon’s 2019 24-team format, which the Taifa Stars did when they drew against a Tunisian team that was 71 places above them in the rankings.

Benin has reached the finals five times and has done so before, winning famously against Morocco on penalties in the final 16.

However, this tournament saw the Cheetahs finally come to an end to their 15-game wait for their first-ever Afcon title.

Without scoring at his best level, Salah’s goals were crucial, culminating in the Pharaohs’ 91st minute winner over Zimbabwe and winning a penalty on the stroke of half-time.

Walid Regragui acknowledged the demands his tactics place on wide players, which leaves some doubts about his captain’s ability to match that intensity as he recovers from an ankle problem, but he did not deny the immense quality a fully-fit Hakimi brings to his team.

Regragui praised Manchester United’s Noussair Mazraoui and Pyramids’ Mohamed Chibi for allowing Hakimi to join Morocco well in advance, placing faith in his medical staff, and thanked Paris St-Germain for allowing him to play at right-back.

Sami Trabelsi, the coach of Tunisia, hopes to win the tournament in 1996 by going back to the beginning of the group stage, which caused him to resign in 2013. His team has come off the hook in recent games, drawing with Tanzania and swatting past Uganda.

With Bryan Mbeumo scoring Karl Etta Eyong’s opening goal of the campaign and Christian Kofane, a 19-year-old newcomer, scoring a sublime winner against Mozambique, New Cameroon boss David Pagou has plenty of firepower.

The organizers of every tournament always state that “the best Afcon ever” is expected to be “the best Afcon ever.”

Morocco 2025 is undoubtedly making a compelling case for being the wettest Afcon ever, despite the fact that the jury is still out for now.

In contrast to the tropical conditions that have frequently put players at risk at previous tournaments, TV cameras have frequently captured players’ shirts sticking to their skin during a cold and rainy period in Morocco.

The rain is forecast to continue for all four days of the last 16 ties, testing the resolve of the fans after a brief break.

Although the stadiums have been far from full for games against non-hosted teams, the quality of the facilities has been impressive, including the pitch, which has effectively soaked up the rain.