BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

One of Nigeria’s most influential players at the Africa Cup of Nations, Joseph Yobo, will be one of the quartet of former footballers who will act as assistants when the final draw for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is held this Monday in Rabat.

Yobo, was the first Nigerian to gross 100 international playing appearances.

He played every match and every minute of Nigeria’s successive 22 matches of the Africa Cup of Nations from 2002 to 2008.

No other Nigerian player ever achieved that feat. He was only substituted in the 23rd successive match when he got injured in Nigeria’s second group match against Benin Republic at Angola 2010.

He played his last match for Nigeria on the 20th anniversary of the last match played by Late Stephen Keshi. Both played their last matches on 30 June 2014 and 1994 respectively.

Yobo’s last match was his 10th World Cup match, the duel with France.

Thus, he became Nigeria’s most-capped World Cup player, surpassing the nine appearances by Austin Jay Jay Okocha in 1994,1998 and 2002.

Before then, only three other Nigerians had featured in three World Cup editions – Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu and Vincent Enyeama.

According to a media release by CAF, Yobo, Hadji, Cisse and Aurier will not only pull the balls from the pots but also be on hand to offer their insights into the groups for the tournament.

They are some of the biggest names in the African game and all have a rich history with the AFCON themselves.

MUSTAPHA HADJI (MOROCCO)

Hadji is renowned as one of Morocco’s greatest ever players and was named African Footballer of the Year in 1998. He won 63 caps for his country and scored 12 goals, playing at two FIFA World Cup tournaments.  
He netted the winner for Morocco against Egypt at the 1998 TotalEnergies CAF AFCON, the only team to inflict a defeat on the eventual champions. He also played at the 2000 finals.

He had a successful club career in France, Portugal, Spain and England, and in 2011 received the CAF Legends award for his services to the game.

SERGE AURIER (COTE D’IVOIRE)
Aurier is a two-time winner of the AFCON having lifted the trophy in the 2015 and 2023 editions.

The right-back has been a stalwart of the national team since his debut in 2013 and has 93 caps, scoring four goals.

His club career has taken him to the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur, and he is a two-time winner of the French Ligue 1.
He had the honour of being named in the CAF Team of the Year on four occasions between 2015 and 2019, showing his incredible consistency for club and country in that period.   

ALIOU CISSE (SENEGAL)
Cisse was captain of Senegal when they excelled at the 2002 FIFA World Cup by reaching the quarter-finals against the odds, and while he failed to lift the AFCON as a player, he later did so as coach of the national team. 

He won 35 caps as an industrious midfielder during a period when he played for Paris Saint-Germain in France, leading Senegal to the 2002 AFCON final where they lost out to Cameroon.

He became head coach of the national team in 2015 and would lead them through a golden period that included lifting the AFCON in 2021, and FIFA World Cup qualifications in 2018 and 2022.  

He was named CAF Coach of the Year at the CAF Awards in 2022.

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The iconic Mohammed V National Theatre in Rabat, Morocco, has been transformed into a dazzling hub of African football as it prepares to host the Final Draw for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025 on Monday.

The much-anticipated event, scheduled for Monday, 27 January, at 19h00 local time (18h00 GMT), will unveil the group stage opponents for the 24 participating nations.

Branding for the competition now adorns the theatre’s elegant exterior, blending modernity with Moroccan heritage.

Posters, logos, and the vibrant colours of TotalEnergies CAF AFCON 2025 have draped the building, ensuring it fully embodies the spirit of the continent’s most prestigious football tournament.

A Symbol of Elegance and Culture

Inaugurated in 1961 by King Hassan II, the Mohammed V National Theatre stands as a jewel of Moroccan architecture and culture.

Located in the heart of Rabat, the venue has been meticulously prepared for the draw, reflecting the rich history and cultural pride of its surroundings.

The theatre will also host musical segments led by Moroccan producer RedOne, adding a cultural flair to the night’s proceedings.

Anticipation Grips Rabat

The city of Rabat has embraced the TotalEnergies AFCON fever, with an electrifying atmosphere spreading across its streets.

Residents and visitors alike are eagerly anticipating the draw, which will be attended by national team coaches, African football legends, and dignitaries.

Rabat, a coastal gem with a population of 1.8 million, is no stranger to hosting global events, further cementing its status as a key hub for African football.

A Star-Studded Event

The Final Draw will feature a gathering of football royalty. Coaches such as Côte d’Ivoire’s Emerse Faé, Senegal’s Pape Bouna Thiaw, and Algeria’s Vladimir Petković are among the over 20 national team coaches expected.

Adding to the glamour, African legends including Rigobert Song, Essam El Hadary, and Mustapha Hadji will lend their gravitas to the occasion.

What to Expect

The draw will divide the 24 teams into six groups of four, with the top two teams and the four best third-placed sides advancing to the knockout rounds.

Fans worldwide can follow the ceremony live via CAF’s social media platforms and partner broadcasters, as Rabat takes centre stage for this pivotal moment in African football history.

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The Africa Cup of Nations started with only three entrants in the opening edition in Sudan in 1957 with the hosts, Egypt and Ethiopia competing.

The fourth founder member of the Confédération Africaine de Football was South Africa, but they did not compete, leaving Egypt to play Sudan in Khartoum in the first game and then advance to play Ethiopia in the deciding match, which they won 4-0

It was a humble beginning for a tournament that will celebrate its 35th edition when 24 teams gather in Morocco in December to contest for the top prize in African sport.

The draw for the finals is being conducted in Rabat on Monday.

From three teams to 24 has been a remarkable progression, testimony to the appeal of the continent’s premium sports event and the advancements African football has made.

The third edition of the finals in 1962 saw qualifying introduced and the size of the final tournament, hosted in Ethiopia, increased to four teams, with two semi-finals, a third-place play-off match and the final.

The next year in 1963, the size of the finals in Ghana went up to six competitors, divided into two groups of three with the two group winners (Ghana and Sudan) going on to contest the final. The same format was kept for the 1965 edition, following a much more expansive qualifying competition.

The 1968 finals in Ethiopia featured eight teams, divided into two groups of four and with a semi-final stage as the top two finishers in the groups advanced to the last four.

The Cup of Nations would stay as an eight-team tournament for a total of 12 editions, until the 1992 finals in Senegal when the number of finalists increased to 12.

They were divided into four groups of three teams with the top two advancing. It meant that only four countries were eliminated after the first round and for the first time the tournament had a quarter-final stage.

Only two editions later, CAF again increased the size of the tournament to 16 sides but the first of the new-look editions in South Africa in 1996 only had 15 competitors because Nigeria failed to travel.

It was supposed to be four groups of four teams each with the top two going onto the quarter-finals but one of the groups had only three competitors.

The 16-team tournament was the format for 12 successive editions until the Cup of Nations was expanded again for the 2019 finals in Egypt.

With 24 teams, the tournament has a total of 52 matches, with six groups initially, then a last-16 knockout round which means many more decisive matches.

It proved a thrill a minute in 2019 with several shock results, equally exciting at the next finals in Cameroon and such was the quality of football in almost every game at the last tournament in the Cote d’Ivoire that it was a riveting spectacle from start to finish.

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