The final round of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches was held this week with Tanzania, Botswana and Mozambique claiming their spots in the AFCON. The last set of matches threw in some surprise elements; the four-time winner, Ghana, failed to qualify for the tournament for the first time since 2004. The tournament will take place in Morocco from December 21st, 2025, to January 18th, 2026 and now 24 teams are locked in for the African extravaganza.
Dynamic qualification scenes emerge
Tanzania’s qualification journey was remarkable when it qualified at the expense of Guinea with Simon Msuva’s fantastic diving header in the 61 minute to secure the group runners up. The Taifa Stars triumph is their first time to qualify for AFCON with only four appearances in total provoking joy among fans back home. In another closely contested group, Botswana qualified to their second continental tournament after 12 years coming from third place in group C which they finished with a 1-1 draw against the already through Egypt.
Mozambique completed the qualification lineup with a brilliant 2-1 victory in Guinea-Bissau, the goal scored by Stanley Ratifo putting his team through to the tournament. The qualification process had some dramatic moments: Sudan qualified to the tournament by playing a goalless draw against Angola, the group winners, while Benin also qualified as the runners-up of the group behind Nigeria. The tournament’s map has been dramatically transformed for the worse and the once prominent football giants like Ghana did not qualify.
