2025 Africa Cup of Nations: Key facts every fan needs to know

The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is set to kick off on Sunday, Dec. 21. But what is it? Why does it matter? How will it work? And which teams and players are set to define it?

Here's a rundown of everything you need to know about Africa's premier soccer tournament.

What is AFCON?

The Africa Cup of Nations, or AFCON, is a biennial tournament pitting Africa's best national teams against each other for the continent's top soccer prize. It's been running without interruption since 1957, making it one of the oldest continental trophies on earth: It's three years older than Europe's Euros and 34 years older than North America's Gold Cup.

How does it work?

After a grueling qualification process that saw many top teams — including 2026 World Cup qualifiers Ghana and Cape Verde — drop by the wayside, 24 of Africa's best teams have been sorted into six groups of four teams each. The top two teams in each group, plus the four best third-placed teams on average, will advance to the knockout stages, and the tournament will follow a standard bracket from there.

Group draws, therefore, matter immensely at AFCON. There's a big difference in difficulty between straightforward Group A (Morocco, Mali, Comoros and and Zambia) and the eyebrow-raising gauntlet of Group F (Cameroon, Gabon, Cote D'Ivoire and Mozambique).

Isn't AFCON taking place in the middle of the European soccer season?

Yes.

Does that mean Premier League teams will have to do without their African players while their national teams are still competing at AFCON?

Yes, it does. Brighton, Crystal Palace and Liverpool will lose one player each during AFCON, while Nottingham Forest, Wolves, Everton, West Ham, Tottenham, Brentford and Manchester City will lose two. Burnley, Manchester United and Fulham will each lose three.

No one will be harder hit than Sunderland, though. It's set to lose six players to AFCON during the festive season. Four of those six — Reinildo Mandava (Mozambique), Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso), Noah Sadiki (DR Congo) and Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco) — are regular starters for the Black Cats.