AHEAD of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) draw, Nigeria’s Super Eagles may face formidable opponents such as South Africa’s Bafana Bafana and Mali’s Eagles in the group stage.
This comes after they were seeded in Pot One for the AFCON group stage draw, set to take place at the Mohamed V National Theatre in Casablanca, Morocco, on Monday.
This top-tier seeding ensures that Nigeria will avoid facing other football powerhouses in the same pot during the draw.
However, they stand the chance to face the likes of Mali, South Africa, Cameroon who are pitted in other pots.
Sharing Pot One with the Super Eagles are Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, and Cote d’Ivoire—all regarded as the continent’s football elites.
Nigeria’s inclusion in Pot One comes as a result of the team’s strong performance in recent FIFA rankings, where they were listed as the fifth-best team in Africa in December 2024.
This ranking solidifies their status among the top teams on the continent.
The Super Eagles’ head coach, Éric Chelle, will be present at the draw ceremony alongside Dayo Enebi Achor, the team administrator, and Sharif Inuwa, chairman of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Technical and Development Committee.
The 35th edition of AFCON is scheduled to commence in Morocco on December 21, 2025, and will conclude on January 18, 2026. Nigeria will aim to improve on their runner-up finish in the previous edition held in Cote d’Ivoire.
AFCON 2025 Group Stage Seeding:
Pot 1: Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire
Pot 2: Cameroon, Mali, Tunisia, South Africa, DR Congo, Burkina Faso
Pot 3: Gabon, Angola, Zambia, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Benin Republic
Pot 4: Mozambique, Comoros, Tanzania, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Botswana
