No more calculations, it’s time for the knockout stage. After a flawless group stage campaign, the Atlas Lions embark on the serious business this Sunday against Tanzania . Walid Regragui warns: "The real AFCON starts now". Here’s everything you need to know to follow the match.
The bet is won. Beyond the sporting challenge, the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is emerging as a tremendous economic accelerator for Morocco. Saturated airports, full hotels and massive investments: the Kingdom is taking advantage of the "CAN" effect to break historic attendance records and prepare the ground for the 2030 World Cup.
This is the match of truth. This Sunday at 5pm, the Atlas Lions are playing for their future in "their" AFCON against Tanzania. Overwhelming favorites, Walid Regragui’s men know that an elimination at this stage, as in 2019 or the last edition, would be experienced as a real earthquake by an entire people who have been waiting for a title for half a century.
The saga has been over for a long time, but the details are only emerging now. Rabie Takassa, a recruiter for the FRMF, confided in the newspaper L’Équipe about the Lamine Yamal case. He reveals that despite a last-ditch attempt by Walid Regragui in Barcelona, the choice of Spain was sealed long before the player’s media explosion.
This is the missing piece of the puzzle before the big event of 2030. In all likelihood, FIFA is preparing to designate Morocco as the host country for the 2029 Club World Cup . A "XXL" edition with 32 teams that would serve as the perfect dress rehearsal a year before the World Cup co-organized with Spain and Portugal.
On the eve of the round of 16 match against Tanzania , Walid Regragui wanted to calm the ardor. While Morocco is the favorite this Sunday in Rabat, the national coach insists on humility and caution. Good news for the supporters: the infirmary is emptying, with an Achraf Hakimi "ready" and the return of Hamza Igamane.
The excitement of the Africa Cup of Nations collides with the reality of the pavement. Despite the exceptional measures put in place, public transport in Rabat is on the verge of paralysis. Endless queues, refusals to take on passengers and massive traffic jams: the tug-of-war is intensifying between taxi drivers exasperated by the traffic and users left stranded.
This is an opponent that Morocco knows by heart and that it has (almost) always beaten. This Sunday in Rabat, the Atlas Lions face Tanzania in the round of 16 of the 2025 AFCON with a massive psychological advantage: in eight confrontations, they have won seven times.
It’s a small bomb in the world of regional football . The Gulf Federation is considering breaking its own traditions for the 2026 edition scheduled in Riyadh. The idea? Inviting the heavyweights of the Arab world, including Morocco, Egypt and Algeria, to transform this local tournament into a high-level competition.
All is not well between the Fennecs and the Algerian media present in Morocco . While they were enjoying a day off in Rabat for the New Year, the players of the Algerian national team were exasperated by the harassment of their journalists, who had turned into paparazzi for the occasion.
Money doesn’t necessarily make results. The ranking of the highest-paid coaches at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations reveals a huge disparity: the Algerian coach, Vladimir Petkovic, receives a salary almost twice as high as that of Walid Regragui , who was nevertheless a semi-finalist in the last World Cup.
Leaders of their group, the Atlas Lions continue their quest for continental glory this Sunday in Rabat against Tanzania. But the final bracket of this CAN 2025 already outlines tantalizing prospects, with a potential explosive clash against Algeria in the semi-finals on the horizon.