Ahead of the draw for the 35th edition of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025 that will be staged in Rabat on January 27, we round up the numbers on the continent’s greatest footballing show.
0 – There will be no debut nation at these finals in Morocco. All 24 teams have competed at least once before in the continental showpiece, though Botswana and Comoros will be making a second appearance.
1 – Former Zambia goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene is the only gloveman to score at the AFCON when he netted a penalty in a 1-1 pool stage draw with Nigeria in 2013. Zambia were defending champions but could not hold onto their crown.
2 – Ex-Egypt striker Hassan El-Shazly holds the record for most hattricks at the AFCON after he scored two – one in 1963 and another in 1970.
3 – Two coaches have lifted the AFCON trophy three times. Ghana’s Charles Gyamfi and Hassan Shehata, who won three in a row between 2006 and 2010.
3 – Egypt are the only nation to lift the AFCON trophy three tournaments in a row when they were champions in 2006, 2008 and 2010.
5 – Laurent Pokou holds the record for the most goals scored in a single AFCON match when he netted five times for the Cote d’Ivoire in a 6-1 victory over Ethiopia in 1970.
6 – Four players have managed to score in six different finals tournaments – Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon, above), Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia), Andre Ayew (Ghana) and Asamoah Gyan (Ghana).
7 – Egypt have won the AFCON title the most times with seven victories. They have also claimed three silver medals and three bronze, so have 13 medals in total. Nigeria actually have the most medals overall with three gold, five silver and eight bronze for a total of 16.
8 – Ex-Cameroon defender Rigobert Song, former Egypt star Ahmed Hassan, Ghana striker Andre Ayew and Tunisian forward Youssef Msakni hold the record for the most AFCON tournament appearances as a player with eight each.
9 – Former Zaire (now DR Congo) forward Ndaye Mulamba holds the record for the most goals in a single AFCON finals when he netted nine in 1974 to lead his side to the title.
9 – Frenchman Claude Leroy holds the record for most tournaments as a coach having led teams at nine separate AFCON between 1986 and 2017. He took six different teams to the finals in all – Cameroon (twice), Senegal (twice), Ghana, DR Congo (twice), Congo-Brazzaville and Togo.
12 – Twelve of the previous 34 host nations have lifted the AFCON trophy on home soil. Cote d’Ivoire managed it at the 2023 finals, the first time a host had won since Egypt in 2006.
16 – The youngest player to appear at the AFCON finals was Shiva N’Zigou, who was 16 years and 93 days when he played for Gabon in a group stage match against South Africa in 2000.
17 – Tunisia hold the record for the most consecutive AFCON finals appearances. Morocco 2025 will be their 17th in a row.
18 – Former Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o holds the record for most goals at the AFCON finals with 18 from 29 matches across six tournaments between 2000 and 2010.
26 – Egypt have appeared at the most finals, 26, one more than Cote d’Ivoire, who are next on the list, with Ghana in third on 24 appearances. The latter will not be in Morocco this time round.
44 – The oldest player to appear at the AFCON was ex-Egypt goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary (above), who was 44 years and 21 days when he played against Cameroon in 2017.
44 – The number of African nations out of 54 who have qualified for the finals in the past. Only Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Lesotho, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Somalia and South Sudan have never appeared.
111 – Egypt have played the most games at the AFCON finals. Cote d’Ivoire (106), Ghana (105) and Nigeria (104) are the other nations to have played over a century of games. Egypt also hold the records for games won (60) and goals scored (175).
119 – The 2023 finals holds the record for most goals scored at 119, smashing the previous record of 102 in 2019. Both those tournaments featured 24 teams. The finals with the most goals on average per game was in 1962 (4.50 per game) and the least in 1988 (1.44).
1957 – The first AFCON finals was played in 1957 and contained only three teams – Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan.
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