Nigeria to Discover 2025 AFCON Opponents in Draw Ceremony Monday

Three-time Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) champions Nigeria will learn their opponents for the 2025 tournament during today’s draw ceremony in Morocco, according to PUNCH Sports Extra.

The draw will take place at the Mohammed V National Theatre in Rabat, Morocco, at 7:00 PM Nigerian time.

The 2025 edition of the prestigious tournament will be hosted by Morocco from December 21 to January 18, 2026, and Nigeria will be among the favorites, having previously won the tournament in 1980, 1994, and 2013.

The Super Eagles, currently ranked as the fifth-best team in Africa, are placed in Pot 1 for the draw, alongside top teams such as seven-time champions Egypt, defending champions Ivory Coast, two-time winners Algeria, 1976 champions Morocco, and 2021 winners Senegal.

Nigeria’s Pot 1 seeding means the team will avoid facing other top-ranked teams in the group stage, but they could still face formidable opposition from Pot 2, which includes Cameroon, Mali, Tunisia, South Africa, DR Congo, and Burkina Faso.

In Pot 3, teams like Gabon, Angola, Zambia, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, and Benin Republic are drawn, while Pot 4 contains Mozambique, Comoros, Tanzania, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and debutants Botswana.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will have a presence at the ceremony, with new Super Eagles head coach Éric Chelle, team administrator Dayo Enebi, and the NFF’s Technical and Development Committee Chairman, Sharif Inuwa, all expected to attend the event in Rabat.

The Super Eagles’ journey to the 2025 tournament was secured early, having qualified in November 2024 with two games to spare.

Despite a 2-1 loss to Rwanda in their final qualifying match, the team’s qualification was confirmed due to an unexpected defeat of Rwanda by Libya.

Nigeria, with a record 16 medals in 20 AFCON appearances, will aim to build on their second-place finish in the 2023 edition, where they were narrowly defeated 2-1 by Ivory Coast in the final.

The draw will be televised across 90 countries, including in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and both North and South America, bringing excitement to fans worldwide.

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