"Morocco are hoping to make the most of home advantage this time around, having only been awarded the tournament after Guinea were stripped of the privilege in 2022. And Walid Regragui's Atlas Lions are the supercomputer's favourites to lift the trophy, doing so in 19% of simulations. It is easy to see why the predictive model fancies their chances. Morocco are on an 18-game winning run, excluding games at the Arab Cup, which sits outside FIFA's international match window and features mostly domestic-based players."
"At the last edition, the Elephants sacked their head coach after the group stage, salvaged qualification as one of the best third-placed finishers due to a set of crazy results elsewhere, then embarked on a fairytale run to the trophy, with Sebastien Haller scoring the winner against Nigeria in the final, shortly after returning following cancer treatment. If there is one thing that is certain about AFCON, it's that there will be twists and turns aplenty."
An international Africa Cup of Nations runs from December 21 to January 18 while major European leagues enter winter breaks. Morocco host the 35th edition with Ivory Coast defending the title after a dramatic 2023 campaign. The previous champions fired their coach after the group stage, qualified as a best third-placed team, and completed a fairytale run capped by Sebastien Haller's final winner following cancer treatment. Opta simulated the tournament 10,000 times and names Morocco as favourites, winning 19% of simulations, noting their 18-game winning run. Egypt, Algeria and Senegal are also tipped as challengers.
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