African Football Discussion Thread Current Topic: 👉 AFCON 2025/2026

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Africa Cup of Nations

Today Matches

Group A
Mali vs Zambia. Time: 3:pm in local time And in International time is 15:pm. That is for the Group A match today 22 December 2025.


Group B
South Africa vs Angola. Time: 6:pm in local time and in International time is 18:00 pm.

Egypt vs Zimbabwe. Time: 9:00 local time and 21:00 in international time.
And here is my prediction on today's matches. Group A. Mali will win and group b, Egypt and Angola will win their games.

I will be watching the Egypt game, I want to see how Salah gets on and I will be hoping he doesn’t get injured after the bad news on Isak’s fractured leg.

[Agbe]

I will be watching the Egypt game, I want to see how Salah gets on and I will be hoping he doesn’t get injured after the bad news on Isak’s fractured leg.

Many football fans will be interested to watch that game. Salah had been benched by Arne Slot in the clubside games for sometimes but salah was not happy on that and he was saying since Arne Slot didn't used him lately, he would play in his National Team. Though I got the information from social media. I don't didn't give 100% credibility to the news. And another match that will be interesting to watch is the South Africa vs Angola. Angola was a strong team before but I don't know foe now.

[Princess Leah]

I will be watching the Egypt game, I want to see how Salah gets on and I will be hoping he doesn’t get injured after the bad news on Isak’s fractured leg.

Many football fans will be interested to watch that game. Salah had been benched by Arne Slot in the clubside games for sometimes but salah was not happy on that and he was saying since Arne Slot didn't used him lately, he would play in his National Team. Though I got the information from social media. I don't didn't give 100% credibility to the news. And another match that will be interesting to watch is the South Africa vs Angola. Angola was a strong team before but I don't know foe now.

Arne Slot has a reason for benching Salah but if i were him, I'll use this AFCON tournament to show the coach what he's missing, I'm not a Liverpool fan but he's one player I love so much and miss seeing him play, I hope he impresses in today's match and the rest to come so slot would see reason to bring him back into the starting lineup.

 South Africa vs Angola would be very interesting to watch, they're both tough nations but I feel that South Africa is the better side, I expect them to win that match anyways.

[GiftedMAN]

I will be watching the Egypt game, I want to see how Salah gets on and I will be hoping he doesn’t get injured after the bad news on Isak’s fractured leg.

Egypt is expected to perform better than Zimbabwe and become victorious in the match but matches between African countries can be very tough to predict. Anyways based on my love for Salah I'll be supporting Egypt to win that match, I hope that Salah poor form in the EPL doesn't affect his performance today.

[Ishicryptic]

I will be watching the Egypt game, I want to see how Salah gets on and I will be hoping he doesn’t get injured after the bad news on Isak’s fractured leg.

Many football fans will be interested to watch that game. Salah had been benched by Arne Slot in the clubside games for sometimes but salah was not happy on that and he was saying since Arne Slot didn't used him lately, he would play in his National Team. Though I got the information from social media. I don't didn't give 100% credibility to the news. And another match that will be interesting to watch is the South Africa vs Angola. Angola was a strong team before but I don't know foe now.

AFCON is finally here and I hope that the competition will live up to expectation and the teams will give their best, for today's matches, I know that the highpoint of today's games will be between Egypt versus Zimbabwe. Although nothing is certain in football and an underdog can surprise everybody to win a favorite, unless that happens we are expecting Egypt, to carry the day. Salah, remains a top class footballer and his presence on the Egyptian lineup will boost his team's morale to defeat Zimbabwe. Let us just wait and see how the games will go today, let the better teams carry the day.

[Hewlet]

I will be watching the Egypt game, I want to see how Salah gets on and I will be hoping he doesn’t get injured after the bad news on Isak’s fractured leg.

Egypt is expected to perform better than Zimbabwe and become victorious in the match but matches between African countries can be very tough to predict. Anyways based on my love for Salah I'll be supporting Egypt to win that match, I hope that Salah poor form in the EPL doesn't affect his performance today.

This is African football oh, you can't predict a win just because moh Salah is playing along other Egyptian players. Sometimes an average African team can just put up an impressive performance and give a massive shocker to teems you tag to be the stronger ones.

All eyes will be on Salah in that particular fixture and with great expectations, there's an high chance he's going to underperform. It's the first game of the tournament for all parties involve and actually, we just have to keep an open mind to what the potential outcome of the game will look like because at the end, it's after each team has played are first game that we can outrightly say that a particular team is the favourite in this tournament. For now, any of the opponent can easily steal the victory with the right mentality.

[yudi09]

I will be watching the Egypt game, I want to see how Salah gets on and I will be hoping he doesn’t get injured after the bad news on Isak’s fractured leg.

Egypt is expected to perform better than Zimbabwe and become victorious in the match but matches between African countries can be very tough to predict. Anyways based on my love for Salah I'll be supporting Egypt to win that match, I hope that Salah poor form in the EPL doesn't affect his performance today.

Ahead of the Egypt vs Zimbabwe match, Egypt should have no trouble based on the squads of both teams. Egypt is favored to win this match. Mohamed Salah will be the player in the spotlight because at Liverpool he is the player who stands out for his performance.
I hope Mohamed Salah does not get injured while playing for the Egyptian national team and can help Egypt achieve what the Egyptian football public wants so that he can improve his performance to help Liverpool.

[Odusko]

I will be watching the Egypt game, I want to see how Salah gets on and I will be hoping he doesn’t get injured after the bad news on Isak’s fractured leg.

Egypt is expected to perform better than Zimbabwe and become victorious in the match but matches between African countries can be very tough to predict. Anyways based on my love for Salah I'll be supporting Egypt to win that match, I hope that Salah poor form in the EPL doesn't affect his performance today.

Ahead of the Egypt vs Zimbabwe match, Egypt should have no trouble based on the squads of both teams. Egypt is favored to win this match. Mohamed Salah will be the player in the spotlight because at Liverpool he is the player who stands out for his performance.
I hope Mohamed Salah does not get injured while playing for the Egyptian national team and can help Egypt achieve what the Egyptian football public wants so that he can improve his performance to help Liverpool.

Let see how it goes, no doubt that Egyptian players are well motivation to confront even a bigger team much more than Zimbabwe, but also we shouldn't unrate the opposition team since their too are doing greatly well during the FIFA qualifying matches and even in this current league, we await to see what both team will play tonight.

[yudi09]

Ahead of the Egypt vs Zimbabwe match, Egypt should have no trouble based on the squads of both teams. Egypt is favored to win this match. Mohamed Salah will be the player in the spotlight because at Liverpool he is the player who stands out for his performance.
I hope Mohamed Salah does not get injured while playing for the Egyptian national team and can help Egypt achieve what the Egyptian football public wants so that he can improve his performance to help Liverpool.

Let see how it goes, no doubt that Egyptian players are well motivation to confront even a bigger team much more than Zimbabwe, but also we shouldn't unrate the opposition team since their too are doing greatly well during the FIFA qualifying matches and even in this current league, we await to see what both team will play tonight.

Egypt is strong with the composition of players that will be used in the line-up against Zimbabwe, but that is still in the analysis stage. Meanwhile, on the field, we cannot be sure of the outcome because a team like Zimbabwe is motivated to prove itself in a tournament as big as the AFCON.

Why do I consider Egypt as the team I favor to win and Zimbabwe as not a team that can pose a significant challenge to Egypt in this match? Because Zimbabwe was unable to defeat Lesotho, even though they managed to hold South Africa to a draw in the CAF World Cup Qualifiers.

[TelolettOm]

I will be watching the Egypt game, I want to see how Salah gets on and I will be hoping he doesn’t get injured after the bad news on Isak’s fractured leg.

Egypt will play against Zimbabwe in their first group stage match. I also really want to see how Salah performs with Egypt in this AFCON. Salah will focus on this match first, considering the various problems he faces at Liverpool.

Oh yeah, Egypt should win this match. For your information, Egypt is the national team with the most AFCON trophies to date, with 7. However, none of these trophies are with Moh Salah. So far, Egypt with Salah has never won an AFCON. Can he lead Egypt to lift the trophy this time?

Source: successful nations in AFCON

[Fiatless]

Egypt will play against Zimbabwe in their first group stage match. I also really want to see how Salah performs with Egypt in this AFCON. Salah will focus on this match first, considering the various problems he faces at Liverpool.

Oh yeah, Egypt should win this match. For your information, Egypt is the national team with the most AFCON trophies to date, with 7. However, none of these trophies are with Moh Salah. So far, Egypt with Salah has never won an AFCON. Can he lead Egypt to lift the trophy this time?

Source: successful nations in AFCON

This is the fifth time Mohammed Salah has played in the African Cup of Nations and has never won the title with Egypt. He has won the EPL Golden Boot four times and is the league's fourth all-time highest goal scorer. With all these achievements he has not established himself as an African great.

This might be the last Afcon competition for Salah, and he would have to set aside his issues in Liverpool and focus on this competition. Just as Lionel Messi got his long-time desire to win the World Cup, Salah's dream will be fulfilled if he can erase his name from the list of great players in Africa who have never won the continental competition.  Players like George Weah, Michael Essien, Kanu Nwankwo, and Didier Drogba are in that list.

[Jessie2121]

At this point we have just 2 games already with the second game ongoing and I haven't seen much actions, if I'm to be honest with you guys I'd say this afcon is dull and boring. At the beginning I was expecting the host play like they are getting to somewhere but nothing strong even if they won their game I don't see them winning this tournament, Egypt are among the top 5  countries to win this afcon but let's wait till they all play their 1st leg before we see who's on top among all the countries and we shouldn't mention the Super Eagles in the top 5 because they are always full of disappointing display.

[Sticky Bomb]

I will be watching the Egypt game, I want to see how Salah gets on and I will be hoping he doesn’t get injured after the bad news on Isak’s fractured leg.

Many football fans will be interested to watch that game. Salah had been benched by Arne Slot in the clubside games for sometimes but salah was not happy on that and he was saying since Arne Slot didn't used him lately, he would play in his National Team. Though I got the information from social media. I don't didn't give 100% credibility to the news. And another match that will be interesting to watch is the South Africa vs Angola. Angola was a strong team before but I don't know foe now.

Arne Slot has a reason for benching Salah but if i were him, I'll use this AFCON tournament to show the coach what he's missing, I'm not a Liverpool fan but he's one player I love so much and miss seeing him play, I hope he impresses in today's match and the rest to come so slot would see reason to bring him back into the starting lineup.

Every coach always has reasons for benching certain players, especially if they don't fit in their game plan. Salah has been ignored by slot for some time now despite being very fit. I think Salah has a lot to prove in this tournament and I hope he does that. Additionally Salah should be on the lookout for other clubs that may need his services too, he's been in Liverpool for a while and I think it is only right at this point that he envisions trying somewhere else just like L.Diaz did and he is doing very well at Bayern.

South Africa vs Angola would be very interesting to watch, they're both tough nations but I feel that South Africa is the better side, I expect them to win that match anyways.

Sure, this is going to be a tough match and I would watch it. Both teams have the ability to win the matches.

[Oluwa-btc]

I could not watch the Morocco match but I saw the highlights. The goal scored by El Kaabi is really something, it’s a good sign that we are going to see lots of action in the AFCON this year. I still feel like I didn’t miss a great match because judging from the match stats, Morocco dominated the game with 71% ball possession and 7 shots on target.

Off Topic but I wad watching the highlights from the game last night, do we have any stadium in Nigeria we can boast of to be of that standard?! This is enough reason why Nigerian football will continue to diminish, the Nff are worse than cancer trust me after all tye money splashed on them to build stadiums, all they do is squander and squander.

That overhead kick was awesome, I never expected he would do that. First win for Mazaroui a Manchester United player. He was responsible for assisting the first goal.

[Slow death]

Africa Cup of Nations

Today Matches

Group A
Mali vs Zambia. Time: 3:pm in local time And in International time is 15:pm. That is for the Group A match today 22 December 2025.


Group B
South Africa vs Angola. Time: 6:pm in local time and in International time is 18:00 pm.

Egypt vs Zimbabwe. Time: 9:00 local time and 21:00 in international time.
And here is my prediction on today's matches. Group A. Mali will win and group b, Egypt and Angola will win their games.

Honestly, I don't know why bookmakers are underestimating South Africa by offering odds of @2.65, knowing that South Africa qualified for the World Cup even though they were in a group with Nigeria. Probably the bookmakers are giving such high odds because they believe that since Angola beat South Africa in the COSAFA game, they can win again. But that COSAFA competition is weak and national teams don't take it seriously, which is why I bet on South Africa to win. As for Mali, they are currently winning, I believe the game will end with their victory. I also see Egypt winning.

[Lida93]

Africa Cup of Nations

Today Matches

Group A
Mali vs Zambia. Time: 3:pm in local time And in International time is 15:pm. That is for the Group A match today 22 December 2025.


Group B
South Africa vs Angola. Time: 6:pm in local time and in International time is 18:00 pm.

Egypt vs Zimbabwe. Time: 9:00 local time and 21:00 in international time.
And here is my prediction on today's matches. Group A. Mali will win and group b, Egypt and Angola will win their games.

Quite some interesting fixtures in the AFCON today, I expect to see some intriguing football especially in the Mali VS Zambia fixture. I think Mali should be the favourites, they have a good team, also South Africa should be able handle Angola despite Angola being a tough team to deal with and perhaps very unpredictable at times, but with South Africa's squad debt and technical abilities am sure they can beat Angola. Then I also expect the pharaohs of Egypt to have a comfortable win again Zimbabwe and also dominate them all through this game tonight.

[DaNNy001]

I could not watch the Morocco match but I saw the highlights. The goal scored by El Kaabi is really something, it’s a good sign that we are going to see lots of action in the AFCON this year. I still feel like I didn’t miss a great match because judging from the match stats, Morocco dominated the game with 71% ball possession and 7 shots on target.

Off Topic but I wad watching the highlights from the game last night, do we have any stadium in Nigeria we can boast of to be of that standard?! This is enough reason why Nigerian football will continue to diminish, the Nff are worse than cancer trust me after all tye money splashed on them to build stadiums, all they do is squander and squander.

That overhead kick was awesome, I never expected he would do that. First win for Mazaroui a Manchester United player. He was responsible for assisting the first goal.

The NFF are just one big whole parasite that have fested and eaten up the entire resources of the Nigerian football and the worse part of the whole thing is that they continue to reshuffle themselves and continue the vicious circle of corruption in the heart of Nigerian football. We have a great footballing prospect and possibility that would made everything great if only the funds and money that is meant for the development is put into it.

[Agbe]

From the beginning of the game Mali was attempting to score Zambia but the defense and the goalkeeper has been saving goals for Zambia but finally Mali has scored their first goal. L. Sinayoko scored the goal and after.L. Sinayoko have the goal, A. Dieng got a yellow card, Right now the game is favoring Mali but Zambia is trying their best to defend the their side.
I missed Morocco opening game yesterday.

[Rruchi man]

Ahead of the Egypt vs Zimbabwe match, Egypt should have no trouble based on the squads of both teams. Egypt is favored to win this match. Mohamed Salah will be the player in the spotlight because at Liverpool he is the player who stands out for his performance.

Salah is not in the best form of his career as he was last season, so I am not expecting much from him in the AFCON for Egypt. I personally don't consider Egypt as one of the contenders to win the AFCON this year because there are other teams in a better position than they are, even though some people have them as the number one choice.

I think teams like Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and even Morocco, the host, have a better chance.

Mali vs Zambia full-time score: 1-1


 Another game with just two goals.

[Majestic-milf]

 Mali should have won this game comfortably because they played against a side that were not very strong, infact the only thing they had going for them was just their strong defense. This team (Zambia) could not record any shot on target in the whole of the first 45 minutes and rather showed life in the second when they had their two shots on target.
I will say that Mali felt they could wrap this up with just a goal after failing to score in the first half from a penalty but last minute header from Patson Daka in the 90+2 was what deprived them of all three points that should have seen them equal on points with Morocco.