African Cup of Nations 2025: prospects for Côte d'Ivoire before winning the trophy

At the previous tournament, held in the winter of 2024 in Côte d'Ivoire itself, the hosts initially seemed to be one of the favorites in the title race. In the end, the football gods gave neutral fans a thriller with an unheard-of scenario: the Elephants were only miraculously not relegated after the group stage and even had time to fire the coach, until it turned out that the team was moving on in the ranking of the best third places. In the end, the Ivorians, under the gun of a new helmsman who had no previous experience, came alive and still won gold after being written off by absolutely everyone.

Three-time champions and two-time African Cup of Nations finalists, the Elephants have never before succeeded in defending their title. Having completed a full training cycle with Emers Faye, who managed to revive them from the ashes in a matter of days, the Ivorians will try, if not to repeat the impressive result, then at least to perform with dignity. If you want to support them with a bet, go to Mostbet.

In 2019, the African Cup of Nations was held for the first time in an expanded format - since then, as many as 24 teams have taken part in the final part. From the point of view of qualification, this means that all the traditional giants of African football have almost guaranteed tickets to the competition - you have to try to fly past them. Cote d'Ivoire football is a formidable force and certainly retains every chance to secure the much-coveted passage to Morocco.

The selection cycle for African Cup of Nations 2025 began almost immediately after the end of the previous tournament - in March 2024. However, the opening round of qualification is the continent's eight worst teams deciding among themselves which four of them do not deserve to enter the group stage of selection. Ivory Coast, as the strongest team in Africa right now, naturally missed these close matches.

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For the Elephants, the qualifying cycle will consist only of the group stage. The opponents for the Ivorians were determined by the draw - the national teams of Zambia, Sierra Leone and Chad; all must be played home and away during the autumn of 2024. Of the four teams, two will receive passes to the final part of African Cup of Nations 2025, and the two losers will be left behind.

The first look at the qualifying group of Côte d'Ivoire suggests that the team can confidently take first place. The main thing is to avoid underestimating opponents and play at full capacity. Each of the opponents should be analyzed in a little more detail.

• Zambia - 6th spring at home, 11th leaf fall on the way out. This team won the African Cup of Nations 2012, and their success is not due to regularity, but to exceptions from the rules. At the previous Cup, the Zambians drew two in the group and lost once, failing to make it to the playoffs, and before that they missed three tournaments in the past. It is important not to forget that in the last election cycle, these teams also played among themselves, and while at home the Elephants prevailed 3:1, then on the road they reluctantly pulled back the tight blunder, having recognized defeats 0:3. It is obvious that Côte d’Ivoire has simply relaxed in terms of qualifications, understanding that the main task has been eliminated, and the Middle Ages themselves have settled the first gathering.
• Chad - 10th spring on the way out, 15th leaf fall at home. A very weak team that has never reached the top 100 FIFA rankings in its entire history and has never reached the finals of the African Cup of Nations, not to mention the world championships. This is the same team that happened to pass through the sieve of the first round, and although the team was successful in Mauritius, there was no mention of pogroms in that battle. There are no recent statistics of the game between the children and the Ivorians, but here the Elephants are simply obliged to take the maximum possible 6 points.
• Sierra Leone - 11th day at home, and a few days later on the way out. This enemy is theoretically favored for Chad, but not much against it. Over the course of history, the stars have appeared on the continent's leading corners more than three times, and every time they have failed to make any real noise there. The other one on the right is that the front appearance was not so long ago - at the last African Cup of Nations, although the team still missed the last draw. At the beginning of 2024, the Ivorians played a friendly match with their opponent - and defeated him with a score of 5:1.

A short analysis of what is really going on in Zambia. If the Ivorians are placed on the right track, they will qualify for African Cup of Nations 2025 without any problems - they will need to try hard for the minus sign in order to finish lower than the other place.

Predicting the favorites of the African Cup of Nations 2025 is a thankless task at the moment - the tournament will start at the end of December, most of it will actually take place in 2026. A lot can happen during this time - the same Ivory Coast recently showed that sometimes one new face and a few days are enough to make a dramatic change in the team's game.

Tim no less, Côte d’Ivoire is definitely considered to be one of the favorites of the upcoming tournament - both as one of the top teams in Africa, and as the current champion of the continent.Specific results will depend not only on the Elephants, but also on the tournament grid, because traditionally at continental competitions there are at least half a dozen teams capable of imposing uncompromising competition in the fight for medals. But we can say for sure that not reaching the playoffs is a deafening failure for the Ivorians, and at the very least in the ⅛ finals it will be hard to stop them.

It is impossible to guess that in order to qualify from the group in the final part of the African Cup of Nations, they can take third place - for sure, the team will not become one of the two weakest due to such achievements. Prote Ivorians, remembering how they themselves were forced to give up at the previous tournament, are unlikely to suddenly try their share and earn everything, or sit in another place with their quartet.

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