AFCON 2025: Cote d'Ivoire to play Mozambique today

Defending champions, Cote d'Ivoire, will kick off their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign against Mozambique at Grand Stade de Marrakech later today at 5:30 pm.

This will be Mozambique's sixth AFCON appearance, and they have failed to win any of their previous 15 group games.

On the other hand, Côte d'Ivoire are not only the defending champions, but they are also one of the most successful teams in the history of this competition, reaching five finals and winning three titles.

Moreover, the Elephants have never lost to Mozambique, with five wins and two draws in their seven previous clashes.

Keeping in mind that Mozambique managed to score only two goals in their previous seven encounters with Cote d'Ivoire, it is expected that the defending champions will approach this game with some aggression.

This will be Côte d'Ivoire's 26th AFCON appearance, and their 11th in a row. Despite being the host nation, the Elephants barely managed to advance to the knockout phase last time out.

They finished third in their group, losing two of three group games, including a humiliating 4-0 defeat against Equatorial Guinea – their biggest defeat in AFCON history.

However, Cote d'Ivoire parted ways with their head coach mid-tournament, bringing in Emerse Fae, who turned their fortunes around, leading the Elephants to their third continental title. 

Today's fixtures

Burkina Faso vrs Eq. Guinea-12:20 pm
Algeria vrs Sudan-3:00 pm
Cameroun vrs Gabon-8:00 pm