AFCON 2025 Group B Preview: Angola, Egypt, South Africa And Zimbabwe

Later this month in Morocco, it will be the 35th edition of the African cup of Nations and in group B which has the usual winners of the tournament, Egypt, emerging powerhouse in Africa football, South Africa plus the pair of Angola and Zimbabwe who will be looking to show their stuff at this tournament.

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Egypt:

The Pharaohs need no introduction as they’ve won this tournament seven times, including a hat-trick between 2006 and 2010 which is also the highest by any country even if they’ve been far from impressive recently as they last won it in 2010. They have finished runners-up on three occasions (1962, 2017 and 2021) and third thrice (1963, 1970 and 1974).

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In order to make it into this tournament, they went through the qualifying stage unbeaten (W4, D2), and are unsurprisingly among the pre-tournament favourites and that means a lot of pressure on their manager Hossam Hassan as his predecessor Rui Vitória was sacked on the back of a damaging last 16 exit to DR Congo in the last tournament in 2023.

Meanwhile, their preparations has been far from impressive as they haven’t won inside 90 minutes in five matches prior but it can also be said that they played those matches without their two top players, Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush and Mo Salah. For the Liverpool star, this will probably be his last chance at giving his country a silverware after a trophy filled career with the Reds.

South Africa:

After sealing a World Cup qualification for next year’s tournament with a near perfect record both in defense and attack, in a group that also had Nigeria, the Bafana Bafana will now be keen to discard that underachiever tag that has followed them in the AFCON after finishing in third place in the 2023 AFCON.

The idea will be to claim their second-ever title in the competition following their debut appearance back in 1996 which they won and came second in the subsequent edition in 1998 and have not been able to come close to that since then at the biennial tournament.

It will now depend on their manager, Hugo Broos to put all the right pieces in place to help them have a memorable experience in Morocco as they arrive as one of the genuine contenders for the title after an impressive qualification campaign which saw them remain unbeaten throughout (W4, D2).

Heading into this tournament, they’re blessed with a generation of stars in their squad with a high understanding between them but the pick of the bunch remains their goalkeeper, Ronwen Williams and combative midfielder, Teboho Mokoena both of whom play for Mamelodi Sundowns in the South African league, a team that recently play at the FIFA Club World Cup tournament.

Angola:

The Palancas Negras may not be a household name in African football like Egypt or South Africa but they’re definitely no pushover either as they got into the tournament undefeated throughout the qualifiers but the tournament itself will be a different ball game entirely for Patrice Beaumelle and his boys.

They will be hoping to count on their resolute defending as they conceded just two goals across six matches, with only two sides letting in fewer. On the other hand, their record at the tournament is also not encouraging as they’ve won just one of their nine opening AFCON group stage matches in their history.

This tournament might go the same route, except something extraordinary happens and to get that magic, they will need a collective input from the whole squad but more input will be the expected from pacey Cagliari forward, Zito Luvumbo with support from Al Wakra striker, Gelson Dalai to help them with the goals

Zimbabwe:

The Warriors head into this tournament as one of minnows but they have a lot to prove notwithstanding due to various factors, starting with the fact that weren’t involved in the last edition due to a FIFA-imposed suspension relating to the interference of their government.

Furthermore, they don’t have a rich history in the tournament as they’ve only featured in just five editions of AFCON previously, and having seen that ban lifted, they managed to qualify for this tournament as runners-up in their qualifying group.

They might have to play this tournament without Wolves midfielder and their vice-captain Marshall Munetsi due to fitness concerns but they can definitely count on another EPL player, Tawanda Chirewa who also plays for Wolves and they also be able to count on Copenhagen Copenhagen defender, Munashe Garananga to keep things tight at the back.

Probable Final Standing:

Egypt: They should probably top the group, depending on how they’re able to navigate their match against South Africa even if their other games will not be easy but that would be a direct clash.

South Africa: Topping the group would be a huge achievement but it’s definitely doable, if they can if they play to their strength but a second place finish is more realistic.

Angola: They can play the role of spoilers in this group and depending on the result that they get against South Africa and Egypt, qualifying for the knockout stage is doable but hard.

Zimbabwe: Might look like the whipping team in the group but they can help determine how the table looks at the end of the group stage but qualification for the knockout stage will be a huge ask for them.