Everything you need to know about the Africa Cup of Nations

The Africa Cup of Nations - also known as Afcon - gets under way in Morocco in December with some of the world's best players on show.

It's Africa's biggest sporting event with many Premier League players - including Liverpool legend Mo Salah and Manchester United striker Bryan Mbeumo - set to play for their national teams.

The past eight editions have provided seven different champions, with the Ivory Coast the only nation to have lifted the trophy twice in the past 15 years.

So what can we expect from this year's tournament? Keep reading to find out.

This year's Africa Cup of Nations is being hosted by Morocco.

The country has recently spent a lot of money renovating stadiums to host Afcon 2025, as it also has one eye on an even bigger tournament coming its way in the near future.

Last year, Fifa announced that Morocco - along with Spain and Portugal - will co-host the 2030 men's football World Cup.

It will be the first time that World Cup matches will be held in North Africa.

And the 2030 event is set to be particularly special, because it will be the 100th anniversary of the first-ever World Cup, which took place in 1930.

The 2025 edition of Afcon will begin on Sunday 21 December and run until Sunday 18 January 2026.

The opening match (at 7pm UK time) sees hosts Morocco take on Comoros in Rabat, at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.

The final will take place four weeks later at the same stadium in the Moroccan capital.

It'll be the first time that the tournament will be held over the Christmas and New Year period.

24 teams will take part in this year's Afcon, which will be made up of six groups of four teams:

Group A: Morocco, Mali, Zambia, Comoros.

Group B: Egypt, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe.

Group C: Nigeria, Tunisia, Uganda, Tanzania.

Group D: Senegal, DR Congo, Benin, Botswana.

Group E: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan.

Group F: Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Gabon, Mozambique.

A number of Premier League stars are expected to head off on international duty and play at Afcon for their national teams.

Players could miss up to six or seven Premier League matches - plus FA Cup and Carabao Cup games - if they reach the final.

So let's take a look at some of those who will be missing from the league over the next few weeks.

All eyes will no doubt be on Liverpool's Mo Salah - nicknamed The Egyptian King.

The striker has started on the bench for the north-west club's past few games, after Liverpool's bad run in the league this season.

With the transfer window opening soon, Salah has said he wasn't sure if he would play for Liverpool again.

Will he return to the Premier League after his appearance at Afcon?

Manchester United's right-hand side will look very different over the next few weeks.

That's because Cameroon forward Bryan Mbeumo as well as two right wing-backs - Ivory Coast's Amad Diallo and Morocco's Noussair Mazraoui - are all heading off to Afcon.

Across town, Manchester City will be without two of their new signings - Egypt forward Omar Marmoush and Algeria left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri.

However there are also some clubs, such as Arsenal and Chelsea, who do not have any players due to play in the tournament.

The worst affected Premier League team is expected to be Sunderland - with seven players due to leave for Afcon 2025.

Morocco have only won Afcon once, in 1976, but fans will still be expecting their team, nicknamed the Atlas Lions, to lift the trophy on home soil.

Morocco are on a winning run of 18 consecutive victories - a world record in international football - stretching back to March 2024.

Since then, the Atlas Lions have scored an impressive 50 goals and conceded only four.

But it won't be easy as there are plenty of other teams hoping to become African champions.

Ivory Coast will be hoping to defend their Afcon title they won last year, to claim a fourth continental title.

The team have also had a recent good run of results - they went unbeaten through their entire World Cup qualifying group campaign for next summer's tournament in North America.

Senegal, who won their first Afcon title in 2021, have also been playing impressive football this year, beating Kenya 8-0 in a friendly last month.

Meanwhile, DR Congo come into the tournament on a high after seeing off fellow African rivals Cameroon and Nigeria in the continent's 2026 World Cup play-offs.

However, with seven different winning countries in the past eight Afcon tournaments, it's definitely all to play for.