The 35th edition of the prestigious African Cup of Nations (AFCON) will be hosted by Morocco from 21st Dec 2025 to 18th January 2026. The 24 participating teams have been divided into six groups and will start with group stage games, moving on to the knockouts leading to the final. The last edition was held in 2023 with Ivory Coast defeating Nigeria 2-1 in the final and lifting their third continental title.
With the top players from the African continent participating in this tournament, there will be no dearth of quality football, exciting battles and edge-of-the-seat thrillers. Experienced top players as well as young talent would all want to perform in a big tournament before the 2026 World Cup to bring glory to their nation.
Hence, we take a look at the Top 8 players to watch at the AFCON 2025 –
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has reinvented himself at Olympique de Marseille since his return to the French Ligue 1 club in 2025. Having a host of top European clubs like Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea and Barcelona in his resumé, Aubameyang is still going strong. The 36-year-old forward has been in sensational form this season having scored five goals and provided five assists in 14 league games for Marseille.
Aubameyang made his debut with Gabon back in 2009 and has scored 39 goals in 84 appearances for his country. Aubameyang had initially announced international retirement in 2022 but decided to return to the national team in 2023.He is currently the captain of the Gabon National team.
Even in the twilight of his career, Aubameyang still possesses the finishing ability that saw him breakthrough at AS Saint-Étienne in the French Ligue 1 in 2012/13 season. With the form he is currently in, Aubameyang would definitely be one of the forwards to watch at the AFCON. He could also be instrumental to his side’s progression to the 2026 World Cup when they contest the inter-confederation play-offs in March next year.
Ibrahim Maza is a 20-year-old Algerian forward who plays for Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga. Maza joined Leverkusen ahead of the 2025/26 season from Hertha BSC.
Having been born in Germany, Maza represented the German national team until the Under-20 level before switching his allegiance to the Algerian national team. At club level, Maza has really impressed for Leverkusen this season with four goals and three assists in 21 appearances so far.
Though he has only made eight appearances for the Algerian senior team, Maza is surely going to be one of the most exciting young talents to watch at this year’s AFCON and the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Sporting CP’s young centre-back Ousmane Diomande could be a huge presence in the Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) backline.
Partnering Portuguese defender Gonçalo Inácio in the Sporting backline, their team has looked solid and difficult to break down, having conceded only seven goals in 14 league games. Though Diomande was part of the Ivory Coast squad that won the AFCON 2023, he made only two group stage appearances for the Elephants.
Ivory Coast also has a host of top players in their squad with the likes of Amad Diallo, Sébastien Haller, Yan Diomande, Evann Guessand, Emmanuel Agbadou and Evan Ndicka. With top defenders in the side, Diomande hasn’t featured a lot for Ivory Coast yet.
The quality he possesses not just in defending but also the ability to build from the back with great vision and accurate passing, Diomande could certainly be a difference-maker for the Ivorians, helping them defend their AFCON title.
There was a lot of noise this summer about Victor Osimhen’s impending move to the Saudi Pro League but the Nigerian International decided to stay in Türkiye with Galatasaray S.K. Osimhen has been a prolific scorer for club and country over the past several years. He was the top-scorer when Nigeria won the Under-17 World Cup in 2015. In the AFCON 2023, he became the second-highest scorer for Nigeria though they missed out on the trophy, losing the final to Ivory Coast.
There has been slight disappointment recently as Nigeria missed out on direct qualification for the 2026 World Cup. However, they still have a chance via the inter-confederations play-offs which was again secured by Osimhen scoring a hattrick against Benin in a 4-0 victory for the Super Eagles.
Since making his senior team debut in 2017, Osimhen has scored 31 goals in 45 appearances for Nigeria and currently being in a rich vein of form, Osimhen could be vital to Nigeria crossing the finishing line in the AFCON this season.
Iliman Ndiaye has been one of the most exciting players to watch in the Premier League. Even though his club Everton has been very inconsistent over the past two seasons, Ndiaye has been highly influential in the midfield for the Toffees. He had a decent season in 2024/25 with nine goals in 33 appearances and has also hit the ground running in the 2025/26 season with four goals and two assists in 16 games already.
Ndiaye also plays for the Senegal National team and made his international debut in 2022. Since then, he has mostly marked appearances off the bench and scored three goals in 32 appearances. Ndiaye is part of a star-studded Senegal squad with the likes of Sadio Mané, Ismaila Sarr, Lamine Camara, Habib Diarra, Nicolas Jackson and Pape Matar Sarr. Most of these players play in the Premier League or other European clubs and hence, it has been difficult for Ndiaye to break into the first eleven.
Considering his form, talent and skill though, I believe Ndiaye could be one of the standout players not just for Senegal but also at the AFCON.
Manchester United forward Bryan Mbeumo is another player to watch out for at this AFCON. Mbeumo will be representing his nation Cameroon at this tournament.
Mbeumo had been one of the standout players in the Premier League for the past two seasons for Brentford which saw him make a big money move to Manchester United this season. He had a particularly superb season in 2024/25 where he produced 27 goals/assists (G/A) in 38 appearances for the Bees.
Mbeumo represented the French National Team until the Under-21 level but he made the switch to Cameroon ahead of the 2022 World Cup. However, he hasn’t made a mark for his national team yet and even though he has been really consistent in the Premier League, it would be interesting to see how he performs in Cameroonian colours.
Captain of the host team Morocco, Achraf Hakimi is currently one of the best right-backs in world football.
Having contributed to Paris Saint-Germain’s unprecedented continental treble victory last season with PSG also reaching the FIFA Club World Cup final, Hakimi had a trophy-laden season. He also finished sixth at the prestigious Ballon d’Or awards in 2025 and has also been included in the 2025 FIFA Team of the Year.
He was also a key player of the Morocco squad that reached the Semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup in 2022 – the first African nation to achieve this feat. Since 2024, he has also worn the captain’s armband for his national team.
Being the host nation, Morocco will have home advantage in this tournament and with a quality squad, there is no doubt that they are one of the title contenders for the AFCON. However, they will need their captain to lead them from the front and add another continental title to his already burgeoning collection.
Mohamed Salah has been Egypt’s shining light since he helped them qualify for the 2018 World Cup with his country reaching the World Cup after 28 long years. Since then, Salah has been influential in taking Egypt to an AFCON final in 2022 and helping the Pharaohs secure another World Cup qualification for the upcoming showpiece event in 2026.
At club level, Salah’s preferred position is on the right wing. For Egypt though, Salah plays as a forward or a midfielder and he is the driving force of this Egyptian attack. Salah had an all-timer season in the Premier League last season, leading Liverpool to their 20th league title but he has been struggling since the start of the 2025/26 season. However, his club form hasn’t affected his national team form as he helped secure Egypt’s World Cup qualification with four goals and an assist in five qualifier games this year. In total, Salah had nine goals and three assists in the World Cup qualifying campaign for Egypt.
Salah has been one of the standout players for club and country over the years, breaking several records on his way. However, he hasn’t won major silverware with Egypt and AFCON is one tournament he would be desperate to win with his national side.
Salah would most definitely be one of the biggest stars to feature and watch at the AFCON 2025 tournament.
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