The African Cup of Nations (AFCON) has reached semi-final stage, with the shock-free tournament offering two mouth-watering draws with hosts Morocco looking to see off the challenge of the continent’s powerhouses.
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt, Victor Osimhen’s Nigeria and Sadio Mane’s Senegal remain in contention to lift the trophy in Rabat on Sunday, even if Morocco becomes favorites with home advantage.
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2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco are Africa’s top-ranked team and go into Wednesday’s semi-final match against Nigeria in the capital, maintaining an unbeaten record since losing to South Africa in the last AFCON.
Walid Leglaghi’s side have conceded just one goal in their last five games, but any doubts about their ability to cope with the immense pressure of playing at home were put to rest with their performance in the 2-0 win over Cameroon in the quarter-finals.
Coach Legulagi urged his team to continue their momentum after achieving the “historic” feat of reaching the quarter-finals.
After the quarterfinal victory, coach Regulagi insisted, “We just have to take it one game at a time. We haven’t done anything yet.”
With captain and current African Player of the Year Achraf Hakimi back from injury and Real Madrid winger Brahim Díaz scoring five goals in five games, they have arguably the best squad in the competition.
“He can be the best player in the world if he wants to,” Legulagui said after the game against Cameroon.
Leguraghi angrily rejected suggestions that his team benefited from refereeing decisions that favored the hosts.
“We are the team to beat. As the team to beat, people will try to find all sorts of reasons to say that Morocco has the advantage,” Leglaghi said after his team’s win against Cameroon.
“The only advantage Morocco has in this African Cup is that they will be playing in front of 65,000 spectators. The rest is on the field. We will talk on the field.”
Morocco is currently a powerful African nation and, unlike Nigeria, is preparing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Atlas Lions recently won the FIFA Arab Cup 2025 in Qatar, but their record at AFCON in recent years has not been impressive. This will be their first semi-final appearance since 2004, when they lost to Tunisia in the final.
Going back further, Morocco defeated Nigeria en route to lifting the trophy in 1976, which remains their only continental title half a century later.
Can an “improved” Nigeria stop Morocco from marching on?
Nigeria returned to Morocco with much to prove after their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup ended when they lost on penalties to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the play-offs in Rabat in November.
Ten countries from Africa may participate in the World Cup, but it is notable that Nigeria is not among them, despite its history in soccer and the continent’s largest population.
But their performance over the past three weeks shows it’s an anomaly.
Nigeria finished runners-up in the last AFCON in 2024. Led by two former African Players of the Year in Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, they are the tournament’s top scorer with 14 goals.
So what has changed since the failed World Cup qualifier?
“Nothing,” said coach Eric Schell, who took over just a year ago. “This is the same team. The only difference is they’ve improved because they know what I want.”
Galatasaray striker Osimhen, wearing a Nigerian mask, failed to find the back of the net in seven AFCON matches until he scored against Tunisia in the group stage. He has scored four goals in his last four games.
Nigeria is also the top scorer in the entire tournament with a total of 14 goals.
There were virtually no shocks at this AFCON, with Nigeria’s presence meaning four of Africa’s top five teams made it to the semi-finals. The exception is Algeria, who lost to the Super Eagles on Saturday.
Salah, final shot at AFCON glory?
Even if the host team defeats the Super Eagles, the final challenge will not be any easier.
The tournament’s other semi-final, Egypt vs. Senegal, also scheduled for Wednesday in Tangier, will be a repeat of the 2022 final, which the Lions of Teranga won on penalties.
Senegal, ranked second in Africa and 19th in the world, were seen as Morocco’s biggest threat before the tournament and are one game away from reaching the final for the third time in four tournaments.
They have an experienced squad, including Mane, who will play against his old Liverpool teammate Salah.
Their presence means that the final five players to win the African Player of the Year award will all advance to the semi-finals.
Like Osimhen, Salah has scored four goals in this tournament, but he has never won an AFCON and has been eliminated as a finalist twice.
He came to Morocco after falling out of favor with his club, but appears to have found happiness again with the national team as he looks to win Egypt a record-extending eighth title.
“I’ve won almost every honor but this is the one I’m waiting for,” Salah said after the quarter-final victory over Ivory Coast, before insisting that the Pharaohs were now outsiders.
“We will play against a really good team and most of their players are based in Europe so it will be easier for them.
“We have very good players, but most of them play in Egypt. We have three players who play abroad and they are all in difficult situations. None of them are playing for their club at the moment,” he added, nodding to his own problems at Anfield.
