Bafana Bafana get Pharaohs in 2025 Afcon draw
SA coach Hugo Broos might feel his side came out quite well, in group with three Southern African teams
Bafana Bafana were pitted against record seven-time champions Egypt in their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) group in the draw held at Mohammed V National Theatre in Rabat, Morocco on Monday night.
Bafana's group B includes three Southern African teams, with Angola and neighbours Zimbabwe joining the South Africans.
South Africa coach Hugo Broos, considering his unfancied side progressed past an arguably as difficult combination of Mali, Tunisia and Namibia in group E on their way to third place at last year's Nations Cup finals, might feel his team came out quite well from the 2025 draw.
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Egypt are an always formidable combination to face, but have blown hot and cold in the Afcon in the last decade-and-a-half. The Pharaohs had their strongest period winning successive titles in 2006, 2008 and 2010, but have not lifted the trophy since. After not qualifying from 2012 to 2015, they were runners-up in 2017 and 2021.
Bafana have had some strong clashes against the North African powerhouse, including famously shocking the hosts of the tournament 1-0 at a packed Cairo International Stadium in their last 16 clash in 2019 under Stuart Baxter.
Tricky Angola and Zimbabwe have never won the Nations Cup and both will present a challenge on the day.
Broos will have to prevent overconfidence in his team after their exploits in Ivory Coast, which followed two decades of mostly underachievement for Bafana.
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South Africa reached the 2025 Afcon ending top of qualifying group K, unbeaten on 14 points from four wins and two draws above second-placed qualifiers Uganda (13 points).
Bafana won the bronze medal at the last Nations Cup in Ivory Coast in January and February last year for their best finish in 24 years, then went unbeaten for the rest of 2024. They qualified for the Morocco edition and also put themselves in strong contention in their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, so South Africa might even themselves dark horses for Afcon 2025.
Hosts Morocco were drawn with Mali, Zambia and Comoros in group A.
There did not seem to be a clear 'group of death' in the draw. However group F, which pits West African powerhouses Ivory Coast, the defending champions, and Cameroon against another team from the region in Gabon, and Mozambique, who had a strong qualifying campaign, looked among the tougher combinations.
The next Nations Cup starts on December 21 2025 with the final in Rabat on January 18 2026.
2025 Africa Cup of Nations final draw
- Group A: Morocco (hosts), Mali, Zambia, Comoros
- Group B: Egypt, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe
- Group C: Nigeria, Tunisia, Uganda, Tanzania
- Group D: Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin, Botswana
- Group E: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan
- Group F: Ivory Coast (defending champions), Cameroon, Gabon, Mozambique