CK Updates
LIVE: AFCON 2025 – 27 December 2025 – 2025 Africa Cup of Nations
Saturday Dec 27, 2025. 18:32
Join AfricanFootball.com for LIVE updates from all 52 matches of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, as 24 teams battle for glory in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January.
Today’s matches:
14h30 – Benin 1-0 Botswana
17h00 – Senegal v DR Congo
19h30 – Uganda v Tanzania
22h00 – Nigeria v Tunisia
Updates:
85′ – Will there be a winning goal in the final five minutes? DR Congo have looked much better in the second half despite continuing to see far less of the ball, while Senegal haven’t been as adventurous.
72′ – The goals stand. We are all square again in Tangier.
70′ – It appears the referee has a decision to make after being summoned to the pitchside monitor by VAR.
69′ – Goal! Senegal 1-1 DR Congo. The game has come to life as Mane quickly hits back for the Lions of Teranga. The winger pounced on a rebound and unleashed a shot that nestles inside the left post.
65′ – DR Congo almost double their advantage when an unmarked Theo Bongonda controls a cross on the edge of the box and fizzes a shot narrowly past the right post.
60′ – Goal! Senegal 0-1 DR Congo. The Leopards make the breakthrough. They have definitely shifted gears after the restart and Bakambu has the simple task of tapping home from close range after the ball rebounded into his path.
53′ – Finally a goalkeeper is given some work to do as Noah Sadiki is teed up on the edge of the boz and his shot through a crowded penalty area is saved by Mendy.
46′ – We are back underway in Tangier. Let’s hope we get a goal or two in the second half. We’ve had one goalless draw so far in the tournament between Zambia and Comoros.
Half-time – Senegal 0 DR Congo 0. Not a great first half of football as Senegal have bossed proceedings without threatening the oppostion goal too much. Edouard Mendy has been a virtual spectator after being given almost nothing to do in the opening 45 minutes. The Leopards appear to be playing within themselves, possibly hoping that Senegal tire in the second half and slip up.
45′ – The fourth official indicates there will be two minutes of additional time. Now would not be a good time to concede a goal.
38′ – Sadio Mane is a whisker away from breaking the deadlock with a free-kick that flashes narrowly past the left post.
35′ – Cedric Bakambu is treading on thin ice with the referee after committing two cynical fouls and is warned he will be booked if he oversteps again.
30′ – Half an hour gone in Tangier and the score remains goalless, with neither goalkeeper even required to make a save yet.
22′ – Jackson is presented with another chance from a similar distance, but the result is the same after he shoots wide of the left post once more.
15′ Senegal have enjoyed 69 per cent of the possession in the opening 15 minutes, but they’ve only created one chance of note thus far.
14′ Aaron Wan-Bissaka thinks he has scored, but DR Congo’s celebrations are cut short by the offside flag.
9′ – After a fairly low-key start to proceedings, we finally have some action as Nicolas Jackson is picked out on the edge of the box and he lines up a shot that flies just wide of the left post.
1′ – The referee gets the match underway at the Tangier Grand Stadium.
What was said:
Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw: “We faced a very strong team, with a deep and compact defensive block. We could have scored more, but what stands out most is my team’s commitment and discipline.
“What I take away from this match is the team’s professionalism. The players followed instructions and got the job done.”
Man-of-the-Match Theo Bongonda (DR Congo): “It was a difficult match. Personally, I didn’t know Benin very well. When you look at this AFCON, no team wins easily.
“It’s true that we only scored one goal, but we took the three points. The most important thing is to keep moving forward and go as far as possible in this competition.”
The Leopards also made a winning start to the tournament as they edged Benin 1-0 on December 23 courtesy of Theo Bongonda’s 16th-minute goal. Sebastien Desabre’s side faced Senegal as recently as September 9 in a 2026 World Cup qualifier when they squandered a two-goal lead to lose 3-2, with Pape Matar Sarr scoring in the 87th minute to complete the comeback.
AFCON 2021 champions Senegal will be looking to build on their comfortable 3-0 victory over Botswana on December 23 which put them at the top of Group D. Nicolas Jackson (40′, 58′) and Cherif Ndiaye (90′) scored the goals as the Lions of Teranga started stronghly to record the biggest winning margin of the opening round alongside Algeria, who beat Sudan 3-0 on December 24.
Senegal v DR Congo starting line-ups:
Senegal: E. Mendy, K. Diatta, K. Koulibaly, M. Niakhate, I. Jakobs, I. Gueye, P. Gueye, I. Sarr, I. Ndiaye, S. Mane, N. Jackson.
DR Congo: L. Mpasi, A. Wan-Bissaka, C. Mbemba, A. Tuanzebe, A. Masuaku, S. Moutoussamy, T. Bongonda, N. Mukau, N. Sadiki, M. Elia, C. Bakambu.
Both teams will play theirr final group stage games on Tuesday.
Full-time: Benin 1-0 Botswana. The Cheetahs snap their run of 15 games at the finals without a win, whilst Botswana’s losing streak moves to five games
85’ The Cheetahs remain in front as Botswana are failing to do any real damage. The Zebra’s are running out of time to end their losing streak at the tournament. Benin has failed to grab hold of its chances to double its lead.
70’ Another chance missed for Benin. Roche’s cross misses defenders and its target alike, finding its way to Tamimou Ouorou at the edge of the box. His long shot takes a looping deflection, but is dealt with by goalkeeper Goitseone Phoko.
60’ The scoreline remains the same as neither side is able to produce any real chances. Botswana are starting to enjoy more possession and apply more pressure.
46’ The second half is underway at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium as the Zebras look to draw level.
Half-time: Benin 1-0 Botswana. Roche’s strike in the 28th minute separates the two sides. The Zebras have had chances, but have failed to capitalise on them as Benin dominates possession.
37’ The Zebras’ nearly pull one back. Mothusi Johnson strikes a well hit free-kick, curling up and over the wall, and striking the bar in an unlucky miss with goalkeeper Marcel Dandjinou beaten.
28’ GOAL! Yohan Roche nets for the Cheetahs to open the scoring. Steve Mounie plays him into the box and his shot takes a fortunate deflection, looping over the goalkeeper. Benin 1-0 Botswana.
26’ Tumisang Orebonye misses a huge chance to put the Zebras in front. He mishits a volley from in front of goal – off of the rebound from a set piece – sending it over the crossbar.
13’ Botswana’s Kabelo Seakanyeng receives an early yellow card for a careless challenge on Junior Olaitan.
4’ Goal disallowed. Benin have an opener denied as Steve Mounie mistimes his run, rendering his assist null from an offside position.
1’ We are underway at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
Starting line-ups:
Botswana: G. Phoko, A. Velaphi, M. Gaolaolwe, T. Ditlhokwe, M. Johnson, G. Mohutsiwa, L. Ditsele, K. Seakanyeng, T. Orebonye, L. Ratshukudu, O. Kebatho
Benin: M. Dandjinou, Y. Roche, O. Verdon, M. Tijani, T. Ouorou D. Dokou, S. D’Almeida, I. Hassane, J. Olaitan, S. Mounie, O. Aiyegun
Should the Zebras lose, they will join Benin as the second country to lose all five of its first five matches at the AFCON finals.
Botswana has continued to struggle at the continental showpiece, losing its opening game 3-0 to Senegal to extend its losing streak at the tournament to four games. Similarly, Benin has lost its last 15 matches at the AFCON finals after falling 1-0 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) in its opening fixture.
This will be the first ever meeting between the two countries.
2:02pm – Matchday two continues at the 2025 AFCON in Morocco as Botswana take on Benin at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat. Kick-off is at 2:30pm CAT.
If they defeat Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok in the third round of Europa League qualifying, Rangers will play either Lillestrom of Norway, the winners of the tie between Northern Irish champions Larne and Iberia 1999 of Georgia, or the losers of two Champions League qualifiers – between Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) and Kairat Almaty (Kazakhstan) or Mjallby (Sweden) and Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia).
Having dropped down from Champions League qualifying, Hearts face Benfica and the winners of that also have four possible play-off opponents.
Those are OFI Crete, the winners of Thun (Switzerland) and Vikingur Reykjavik (Iceland), or the losers of two Champions League qualifiers – AGF Aarhus (Denmark) and Sabah (Azerbaijan) and Dinamo (Croatia) and Kauno Zalgiris (Lithuania).
Should Hearts lose to Benfica, they will face either Atalanta (Italy), Freiburg (Germany), or the winners of ties between Panathinaikos (Greece) and CSKA (Bulgaria), Paide Linnameeskond (Estonia) and Rapid Vienna (Austria), or Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) and St Gallen (Switzerland) in a Conference League play-off.
Motherwell have the same possible opponents should they defeat HJK Helsinki of Finland.
If Rangers lose to Jagiellonia, they will face the winners of ties between Jablonec (Czech Republic) and RFS (Latvia), Zalgiris (Lithuania) and Hajduk Split (Croatia), Brann (Norway) and Apollon Limassol (Cyprus), Inter Turki (Finland) and Vaduz (Liechtenstein) or Noah (Armenia) and Sion (Switzerland).
Hibs’ reward should they defeat Shkendija of Macedonia is a possible tie against Brighton & Hove Albion, Monaco of France, the winner of the tie between Bohemians (Republic of Ireland) and Midtjylland (Denmark), the winners of IFK Gothenburg (Sweden) and Gent (Belgium), or the losers of Pafos (Cyprus) against Salzburg (Austria).
It was a fifth successive mid-table finish for the Welsh club, who have not mounted a serious promotion push since Steve Cooper’s team were beaten in the 2021 play-off final by Brentford.
Having been among the Championship’s biggest spenders in the 2025 close season, Swansea’s hierarchy have once again shown ambition this summer.
The club are believe to have spent in the region of £15m on Elijah Just, Joseph Opoku and Moussa Yeo, while Stephen Welsh has signed on a free transfer.
They are also working on deals for a left-back and central midfielder and may look to add another centre-back before the window closes.
“The focus is improving the team, improving the players, put the team in a level that we can compete against everyone,” Matos added.
“There are strong teams [in the Championship] with a lot in terms of budget and a lot of expectations.
“So it doesn’t mean that we need to be the best team, but it means that we need to be able to compete against everyone and be able to win against everyone.
“That’s the good thing about sports. You don’t need to be the best one, but you need to be able to beat the best one. That’s what we want to be.”
After Victoria withdrew in 2023, Glasgow answered the SOS call – and organisers say the past 11 days in the Scottish city have “exceeded all expectations”.
Yes, there have been grumbles – including from those who have seen parking spaces outside their houses taken – and taxi drivers and shop owners the Games have passed by.
On the ground, though, this felt like a meaningful event.
Ticket sales of 434,000 were well down from 1.5 million for Birmingham 2022, but they were always going to be given the smaller venues for this scaled-back edition. It has been rare to enter a venue and not find a joyful, engaged crowd.
There was plenty of excitement for fans, too – Josh Kerr’s golden homecoming at Scotstoun, Angharad Evans making the swimming pool floors shake, and Neil Fachie’s emotional victory on his return to the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.
They also celebrated Jamaica’s seismic netball win over Australia. Live sport rarely fails to deliver.
But a nagging question has remained throughout: is anyone else watching?
Big names such as Kerr and Adam Ramsay-Peaty – with his emotional reaction to taking bronze in the pool – broke out of this Glaswegian bubble, but what else?
Organisers said their social media views passed those of Birmingham within the opening few days and highlighted record-breaking television figures in Australia and New Zealand, where the Games were free-to-air.
Still, without that same coverage in the UK, these Games have – at times – drifted by.
Glasgow 2026 was also hurt by the absence or late withdrawal of big-name competitors, particularly in athletics, which missed Keely Hodgkinson, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Dina Asher-Smith.
The Games’ differing relevance between sports was again clear – for netball, this remains the pinnacle and is treated as such; for others, it is a stepping stone. Many narratives focused on the “next generation”.
Eighteen-year-old Jersey swimmer Filip Nowacki was perhaps the most exciting name to emerge, but gymnasts Ruby Evans (Wales) and Reuben Ward (Scotland) and England track cyclist Henry Hobbs, who won two golds and a bronze, were others.
Swimmer Faye Rogers impressively brought her success at the Paralympics back to Glasgow with gold in the pool – and then competed in the non-para event as well.
Cyclist Emma Finucane turned her three Olympic medals in Paris into four Commonwealth golds in Glasgow.
All will have their eyes on Los Angeles in 2028.
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