The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign sees 48 African teams competing in the group stage, set to become 24 for next year's tournament in Morocco.
With only two more gameweeks to play, and the field of participants taking shape, ESPN has the definitive explainer on everything you need to know; the AFCON table, standings, rules, schedule and everything in between.
Click here for fixtures, scores and standings.
Already qualified: Morocco (hosts), Burkina Faso, Egypt, Algeria, Angola, Congo DR, Cameroon, Senegal
Eliminated: Lesotho, Liberia, Eswatini, Namibia, Burundi, South Sudan, Malawi
What is the Africa Cup of Nations?
The Africa Cup of Nations is the biennial football competition between the top African national sides to crown the continental champion.
It's Africa's equivalent of UEFA's European Championship, the CONCACAF Gold Cup or the Copa América to celebrate South America's finest, and has been running since the inaugural edition in 1957.
Commonly known as the AFCON - an abbreviation of 'Africa Cup of Nations' - the tournament is also known as the 'CAN' or the Coupe d'Afrique des Nations in French-speaking territories within Africa and beyond.
Initially featuring only three participants, the AFCON has expanded to include 24 teams in the finals - just over 44 percent of all eligible African confederations.
When is the next AFCON?
The next Africa Cup of Nations will take place between December 21 2025 and January 18 2026, with Morocco set to host the tournament across six cities.
The unorthodox scheduling is a direct consequence of FIFA's expansion of the Club World Cup competition, which will now take place in June and July of 2025, clashing with the original AFCON dates.
The expanded UEFA Champions League, which kicked off this season, also extends the footprint of this competition, leaving the AFCON squeezed in across Christmas and New Year.
Morocco took on the mantle of host nation in September 2023 after Guinea was stripped of hosting rights due to inadequate infrastructure and facilities.
AFCON qualifying: How does it work?
Over the years, the Confederation of African Football has toyed around with various different formats for AFCON qualifying, taking into account the changing number of nations entering the campaign, and the occasional expansions of the tournament itself.
For 2025, the format is as follows: the eight lowest ranked entrants (as per the February 2024 FIFA World Rankings) contested the preliminary round in March, with four sides going through following home-and-away play-offs.
The four successful minnows then advanced to the 48-team group stage, where they were joined by 43 qualifying hopefuls, plus hosts Morocco to be drawn into 12 groups of four teams in a draw ceremony in Johannesburg in July.
Each group then follows a traditional round-robin format, with each team playing each other home and away between September 2 and November 19, when the qualifying campaign will conclude.
The top two teams from each group advance to the tournament proper, with the exception of Group A, where only one team will join already qualified hosts Morocco at the continental showpiece next year.
What happens if teams are tied?
For this qualifying campaign, CAF have opted for a head-to-head system to decide teams tied on the same number of points, rather than sorting by goal difference.
This means that if two teams finish the group stage level on points, it will be the results of the matches between the pair that are taken into account when deciding who finishes higher.
If both the home and away matches between the teams in question had identical results - therefore the teams cannot be separated on head-to-head results, nor goals scored nor away goals - then overall goal difference in the group will be used to sort.
After that, it goes down to goals scored across all fixtures, away goals scored across all fixtures and then drawing of lots.
There is no sorting process based on 'fair-play' criteria, ie how many yellow or red cards a team picked up.
A busy and complicated schedule
With international windows at a premium this season, and with the World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign ongoing concurrently, AFCON hopefuls are having to contend with a truncated program for the 2025 edition.
After the Match 2024 preliminary round, the entirety of the group stage takes place across just three international breaks and with six matchdays.
The group stage began on September 2, and will conclude with the final two matchdays during next month's international break, with the final fixtures to be wrapped up on or by November 19.
Matchday 1 & 2: 2-10 September
Matchday 3 & 4: 7-15 October
Matchday 5 & 6: 11-19 November
The stand-out results
Four gameweeks in, and four-time champions Ghana are threatening to be the biggest story of the qualifying campaign-- and not for the right reasons. The Black Stars are still winless and, having been defeated 2-0 by Sudan in their latest qualifier, they are on the brink of missing only their second Nations Cup in 35 years.
Ghana need to win both of their outstanding fixtures to stand a chance of progress, but even that will be futile if Sudan take so much as a draw from Niger away or Angola at home. Angola are one of five teams -- along with Morocco, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo and 2019 champions Algeria -- to have won all four of their fixtures.
Morocco will surely be eyeing a first title since 1976 on home soil, and with 14 goals in their four outings -- including nine in their past two fixtures against Central African Republic - they're unlikely to be short of confidence. Achraf Hakimi's cool left-footed effort from the edge of the box against Les Fauves was one of the picks of the Atlas Lions' goals to date.
Tunisia haven't been as convincing as their fellow North Africans, notably requiring a 98th-minute winner to beat lowly Madagascar in Tunis before being stunned 1-0 by Comoros away. Nonetheless, they still top a tight group and will qualify with victory at Madagascar in gameweek five.
Nigeria's refusal to play against Libya away -- after their flight to Benghazi was diverted to another city and they were allegedly refused to exit the airport for 16 hours --overshadowed their latest international break, although the Super Eagles remain atop Group D despite having played a match fewer than second-placed Benin. The Confederation of African Football is yet to announce what resolution will be put in place to address the clear impasse and growing animosity between the two countries.
The decisive matches to come
Ghana's battle to avoid missing out on the tournament, intertwined with the fortunes of Sudan and their head coach -- former Black Stars boss Kwesi Appiah -- will surely be the main talking point of the next international break.
Tunisia could yet miss out, although they should have enough to get across the line, while, in Group B, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's Gabon will progress if they avoid defeat against Central African Republic in their final fixture.
Group C is a three-way tussle between Botswana, Cape Verde Islands and Mauritania to join Egypt in Morocco, and Guinea are in pole position to advance from Group H ahead of Tanzania and Ethiopia.
Reigning champions Ivory Coast play Zambia away in gameweek five knowing they'll progress to defend their title if they avoid defeat, while Group E could come down to a final-day meeting between Togo and Equatorial Guinea if the former can beat Liberia in Monrovia and the Equatoguineans fail to beat Algeria at home.
Also keep an eye out for Nigeria's trip to Benin in gameweek five. The Super Eagles may already be qualified by then -- depending on what CAF's Disciplinary Committee decides -- but either way, there should be some bite to this one given the presence of ex-Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr in the Benin dugout, the neighbourly rivalry between the pair, and the Guepards' victory over Nigeria in the World Cup qualifiers earlier this year.