Morocco and Egypt carry the hopes of the Arab world in the battle for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations trophy, with both nations remaining in contention as the tournament reaches its semi-final stage.
Egypt, the most successful nation in the competition’s history with seven titles, and Morocco now stand as the final Arab representatives with a realistic chance of lifting the trophy.
Arab presence in the quarter-finals included Algeria, raising hopes of an all-Arab path to the final. However, Nigeria brought Algeria’s impressive run to an end with a 2-0 victory, ensuring that only Morocco advanced to the semi-finals. As a result, Arab hopes are now firmly placed on Morocco, chasing a second continental crown, and Egypt, who are targeting an eighth title and their first since their historic treble between 2006 and 2010.
Morocco, tipped by many as strong contenders for the title, will look to build on their commanding performance against Cameroon as they aim to reach just the second AFCON final in their history.
Their semi-final clash with Nigeria marks the fifth meeting between the two sides in the competition, with honours evenly shared so far.
The Atlas Lions won twice on their way to their only AFCON triumph in 1976, beating Nigeria 3-0 in the first round and 2-1 later in the group stage. Nigeria, however, claimed a 1-0 semi-final victory in 1980 en route to their maiden title and recorded a 2-0 group-stage win in 2000, both on home soil.
Wednesday’s encounter promises to be a thrilling contest, with Morocco expected to enjoy the backing of over 60,000 supporters, while Nigeria arrive boasting a perfect record in the tournament so far, both in results and performances.
Morocco will need to find answers to Nigeria’s attacking threat, which has already produced 14 goals, led by Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman and Adams. The trio proved decisive against Algeria, captained by Riyad Mahrez, who at 34 featured in what was his final Africa Cup of Nations appearance.
In the other semi-final, Egypt will face Senegal after edging past Ivory Coast in a dramatic 3-2 encounter. The Pharaohs relied on the brilliance of Premier League stars Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush to end the Elephants’ title defence.
Marmoush opened the scoring before Salah set up Rami Rabia for the second goal and later added a third himself. The Liverpool forward now has four goals in the current tournament and 11 in five AFCON appearances, equalling the tally of his coach, Hossam Hassan.
At 33, Salah is closing in on a third AFCON final after previous appearances in 2017 and 2022, both of which ended in penalty shootout defeats to Senegal. Memories of the 2022 final in Cameroon, where Senegal lifted their first-ever AFCON title, remain fresh, as does Egypt’s later World Cup qualifying heartbreak against the same opponents.
The upcoming semi-final offers Salah a chance at redemption, but Senegal remain a formidable opponent, having reached the last four for the third time in the past four editions.
