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.
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
Source: CAF Online
