Nigeria join hosts Morocco, South Africa, Ghana, Egypt, Cameroon in Pot 1 of AFCON 2025 draw

Nigeria’s Super Eagles have been placed in Pot 1 ahead of the draw for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Soccernet.ng reports.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the draw procedure on Wednesday, with a total of 48 teams expected to be engaged in the official draw.

According to CAF, the 12 highest-ranked nations based on the latest FIFA Rankings, released on June 20, 2024, will occupy Pot 1.

Nigeria, currently ranked fifth in Africa, join hosts Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Mali, South Africa, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo in this top tier.

This placement means Nigeria will avoid facing these top teams in the group stage.

This is particularly significant given Nigeria’s recent history with some of these nations: Ghana prevented Nigeria from qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, Côte d’Ivoire defeated Nigeria in the 2023 AFCON final, and South Africa is currently a major obstacle in Nigeria’s World Cup qualifying campaign.

The draw for the AFCON 2025 qualifiers will create 12 groups of four teams each (Groups A to L). The top two teams from each group, except for the group including hosts Morocco, will qualify for the tournament.

The draw ceremony will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday. The AFCON 2025 finals are scheduled to be held from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026.