AFCON opening matches favour the hosts – Can Morocco continue the tradition?

All but one of the 34 previous opening matches of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals has featured the host nation, and history strongly favours teams playing on home soil.

As Morocco prepare to face Comoros in the opening match of the 2025 TotalEnergiesCAF Africa Cup of Nations in Rabat on Sunday, they will draw confidence from a long-standing trend that has seen host nations dominate the curtain-raiser of Africa’s flagship tournament.

Since the inaugural edition in 1957, there have been 19 opening-match victories for host nations, with only five hosts suffering defeat and nine matches ending in draws.

The lone exception to the tradition of hosts featuring in the opening game came in 1970, when Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire kicked off the tournament in Sudan.

The first-ever AFCON opener ended in disappointment for the hosts as Sudan lost 2–1 to Egypt in Khartoum in 1957, when only three teams participated. It would take almost three decades before another host suffered defeat in the opening match.

That shock came in Cairo in 1986, when Senegal edged hosts Egypt 1–0. Despite the setback, the Pharaohs recovered strongly and went on to lift the trophy, defeating Cameroon on penalties in the final.

Hosts Senegal suffered a similar fate in 1992, losing 2–1 to Nigeria in Dakar, while Tunisia’s 1994 campaign unravelled almost immediately after a 2–0 opening defeat to Mali at the El Menzah Stadium — a result that led to the dismissal of coach Youssef Zouaoui.

Burkina Faso were the most recent hosts to lose their opening match, falling 1–0 to Cameroon in Ouagadougou in 1998. However, they exceeded expectations by reaching the semi-finals and ultimately reflected on the tournament with pride.

The most emphatic opening-day victory remains Algeria’s 5–1 demolition of Nigeria in Algiers in 1990. The two teams met again in the final, with Algeria edging the Super Eagles by a single goal to claim the title.

Other memorable home wins include Tunisia’s 4–0 rout of Ethiopia in 1965, Côte d’Ivoire’s 3–0 victory over Togo in their opening match as hosts, and South Africa’s commanding 3–0 win over Cameroon that set them on the path to lifting the trophy in 1996.

The most dramatic AFCON opener came in 2010, when Angola surrendered a four-goal lead in the final 11 minutes as Mali staged a remarkable comeback to draw 4–4 in Luanda.

When Morocco last hosted the tournament in 1988, they let a first-half lead slip as Zaire — now DR Congo — equalised three minutes from time. It proved an ominous sign, as the hosts failed to reach the final.

This time, Morocco will be determined to make a stronger statement as they look to begin the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations with a convincing victory over Comoros. 

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Results of all the opening matches of Africa Cup of Nations

1957 

10 February, 1957, Khartoum

Sudan  1 (Seddik Mansoul 58’)

Egypt 2 (Raafat Attia 21’ pen, Mohamed Diba El Attar 72’)

 

1959 

22 May, 1959, Cairo

Egypt 4 (Mahmoud Al Gohari 29’, 42’, 73’, Mimi Sherbini 64’)

Ethiopia 0

 

1962 

14 January, 1962, Addis Ababa

Ethiopia 4 (Luciano Vassalo 2, Zelleke Girma, Worku Mengistou)

Tunisia  2 (Amar Merichko, Moncef Cherif)

 

1963 

24 November, 1963, Accra

Ghana  1 (Wilberforce Mfum 9’)

Tunisia 1 (Jedidi 36’)

 

1965 

12 November, 1965, Tunis

Tunisia 4 (Zahour Chaibi 32’, Mohamed Salah Jedidi 62’, Mougi Delhoum 80’, Abdelwaheb Lahmar 84’)

Ethiopia 0

 

1968 

12 January, 1968, Addis Ababa

Ethiopia 2 (Girma Asmerom, Luciano Vassallo pen)

Uganda 1 (Fern Ouma)

 

1970 

6 February, 1970, Khartoum

Cameroon 3 (Emmanuel Koum 57’, 66’, Jean Ndoga 60’)

Cote d’Ivoire 2 (Laurent Pokou 25’, 44’)

 

1972 

23 February, 1972, Yaounde

Cameroon 2 (Jean Baptiste Ndoga 7’, Gaston Paul Ndongo 20’)

Kenya 1 (Jonathan Niva 44’)

 

1974 

1 March, 1974, Cairo

Egypt 2 (Ali Abougreisha 6’, Ali Khalil 52’)

Uganda  1 (Mubiru 28’)

 

1976

29 February, 1976, Addis Ababa

Ethiopia 2 (Solomon Sheferahu 2', Tesfaye Seyoum  83')

Uganda 0

 

1978

5 March, 1978, Accra

Ghana 2 (Opoku Afriye 21’, Abdul Razak 55’)

Zambia 1 (Obby Kapita 8’)

 

1980

8 March, 1980, Lagos

Nigeria 3 (Muda Lawal 11’, Ifeanyi Onyedika 35’, Segun Odegbami 85’)

Tanzania 1 (Juma Mkambi 54’)

 

1982

5 March, 1982, Tripoli

Libya 2 (Garana 58’, Issawi 76’)

Ghana 2 (Al Hassan 28’, Nti 89’)

 

1984

4 March, 1984, Abidjan

Cote d’Ivoire 3 (Leonard Koffi Tia 27’, Youssouf Fofana 62’, Michel Goba 75’)

Togo 0

 

1986

7 March, 1986, Cairo

Egypt 0

Senegal  1 (Thierno Youm 67’)

 

1988

13 March, 1988, Casablanca

Morocco 1 (Merry Krimau 42’ pen)

Zaire 1 (Di Vita Lutonadio 87’)

 

1990

2 March, 1990, Algiers

Algeria 5 (Rabah Madjer 36’, 58’, Djamel Menad 69, 72’, Djamel Amani 88’)

Nigeria  1 (Jay-Jay Okocha 82’)

 

1992

12 January, 1992, Dakar

Senegal 1 (Jules Bocande 39’)

Nigeria 2 (Samson Siasia 13’, Stephen Keshi 89’)

 

1994

26 March, 1994, Tunis

Tunisia 0

Mali 2 (Fernand Coulibaly 25’, Modibo Sidibe 34’)

 

1996 

13 January, 1996, Johannesburg

South Africa 3 (Phil Masinga 14’, Mark Williams 37’, John Moshoeu 55’)

Cameroon 0

 

1998

7 February 1998, Ouagadougou

Burkina Faso 0

Cameroon 1 (Alphonse Tchami 20’)

 

2000

22 January, 2000, Accra

Ghana 1 (Kwame Ayew 56’)

Cameroon 1 (Marc-Vivien Foe 19’)

 

2002

19 January, 2002, Bamako

Mali 1 (Seydou Keita 87’)

Liberia 1 (George Weah 44’)

 

2004

24 January, Rades

Tunisia 2 (Ziad Jaziri 27’, Francileudo dos Santos 57’)

Rwanda 1 (Joao Elias 32’)

 

2006

20 January, Cairo

Egypt 3 (Ahmed Hossam 18’, Mohamed Aboutrika 22’, Ahmed Hassan 78’) 

Libya 0 

 

2008

20 January, 2008, Accra

Ghana 2 (Asamoah Gyan 55’ pen, Sulley Muntari 89’)

Guinea 1 (Oumar Kalabane 65’)

 

2010

10 January, 2010, Luanda

Angola 4 (Flavio 36’, 42’, Gilberto 67’ pen, Manucho 74’ pen)

Mali 4 (Seydou Keita 79’, 89’. Frederic Kanoute 88’, Mustapha Yatabare 90’)

 

2012

21 January, Bata

Equatorial Guinea 1 (Javier Balbao 87’)

Libya 0

 

2013

19 January, 2013, Johannesburg

South Africa 0 

Cape Verde Islands 0

 

2015

17 January, 2015, Bata

Equatorial Guinea 1 (Emilio Nsue 16’)

Congo 1 (Thievy Bifouma 87’)

 

2017

14 January, 2017, Libreville

Gabon 1 (Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 50’)

Guinea Bissau 1 (Juary 89’)

 

2019

21 June, 2019, Cairo

Egypt 1 (Mahmoud Trezeguet 41’)

Zimbabwe 0

 

2021

9 January, 2022, Yaounde

Cameroon 2 (Vincent Aboubakar 37’ pen, 44’ pen)

Burkina Faso 1 (Gustavo Sangare 24’)

 

2023

13 January, 2024, Abidjan

Cote d’Ivoire 2 (Seko Fofana 4’, Jean-Philippe Krasso 58’)

Guinea Bissau 0