Senegalese soccer icon and Teranga Lions head coach, Aliou Cissé, has named Nigeria’s Tremendous Eagles among the many main contenders for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title, reinforcing the rising perception that the three-time champions stay one in all Africa’s most feared forces forward of the match in Morocco.
Talking after Libya’s exit from the Arab Cup playoffs on Tuesday, Cissé—who captained Senegal throughout his taking part in days and now instructions legendary standing as a coach—expressed confidence in Senegal’s possibilities however acknowledged that the battle for the crown will likely be fiercely contested.
“I hope it is going to be Senegal, as a result of I come from Senegal and my coronary heart is with Senegal,” he mentioned, earlier than widening the lens on the groups able to lifting the title.
Past his homeland, Cissé listed 4 different heavyweights he believes are primed for a powerful run: host nation Morocco, Algeria, file champions Egypt, and Nigeria, who completed as runners-up on the final version in Côte d’Ivoire.
“Aside from Senegal, there are numerous groups able to successful this AFCON. Morocco can also be a contender, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria,” he declared.
Cissé, who has guided Senegal to unprecedented success in recent times, highlighted the uniquely unpredictable nature of AFCON—typically thought to be probably the most tough tournaments to forecast.
“Within the Africa Cup of Nations, you possibly can’t predict precisely who will win. Within the World Cup, you can also make predictions. However the Africa Cup of Nations could be very sophisticated. There’ll all the time be surprises,” he added.
The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations will run from December 21 to January 18 throughout a number of Moroccan cities, with 24 nations competing for continental supremacy. With Cissé’s endorsement, Nigeria’s Tremendous Eagles be part of the shortlist of early favourites for what guarantees to be one other gripping AFCON showdown.
