The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign sees 48 African teams competing in the group stage, set to become 24 for next year's tournament in Morocco.
As we approach the business end of AFCON qualifying, ESPN has the definitive explainer on everything you need to know; the AFCON table, standings, rules, schedule and everything in between.
Click here for fixtures, scores and standings.
Already qualified: Morocco (hosts), Burkina Faso
What is the Africa Cup of Nations?
The Africa Cup of Nations is the biennial football competition between the top African national sides to crown the continental champion.
It's Africa's equivalent of UEFA's European Championships, the CONCACAF Gold Cup or the Copa America to celebrate South America's finest, and has been running since the inaugural edition in 1957.
Commonly known as the AFCON - an abbreviation of 'Africa Cup of Nations' - the tournament is also known as the 'CAN' or the Coupe d'Afrique des Nations in French-speaking territories within Africa and beyond.
Initially featuring only three participants, the AFCON has expanded to include 24 teams in the finals - just over 44 percent of all eligible African confederations.
When is the next AFCON?
The next Africa Cup of Nations will take place between December 21 2025 and January 18 2026, with Morocco set to host the tournament across six cities.
The unorthodox scheduling is a direct consequence of FIFA's expansion of the Club World Cup competition, which will now take place in June and July of 2025, clashing with the original AFCON dates.
The expanded UEFA Champions League, which kicked off this season, also extends the footprint of this competition, leaving the AFCON squeezed in across Christmas and New Year.
Morocco took on the mantle of hosts in September 2023 after Guinea were stripped of hosting rights due to inadequate infrastructure and facilities.
AFCON qualifying: How does it work?
Over the years, the Confederation of African Football have toyed around with various different formats for AFCON qualifying, taking into account the changing number of nations entering the campaign, and the occasional expansions of the tournament itself.
For 2025, the format is as follows: the eight lowest ranked entrants (as per the February 2024 FIFA World Rankings) contested the preliminary round in March, with four sides going through following home-and-away play-offs.
The four successful minnows then advanced to the 48-team group stage, where they were joined by 43 qualifying hopefuls, plus hosts Morocco to be drawn into 12 groups of four teams in a draw ceremony in Johannesburg in July.
Each group then follows a traditional round-robin format, with each team playing each other home and away between September 2 and November 19, when the qualifying campaign will conclude.
The top two teams from each group advance to the tournament proper, with the exception of Group A, where only one team will join already-qualified hosts Morocco at the continental showpiece next year.
What happens if teams are tied?
For this qualifying campaign, CAF have opted for a head-to-head system to decide teams tied on the same number of points, rather than sorting by goal difference.
This means that if two teams finish the group stage level on points, it will be the results of the matches between the pair that are taken into account when deciding who finishes higher.
If both the home and away matches between the teams in question had identical results - therefore the teams cannot be separated on head-to-head results, nor goals scored nor away goals - then overall goal difference in the group will be used to sort.
After that, it goes down to goals scored across all fixtures, away goals scored across all fixtures and then drawing of lots.
There is no sorting process based on 'fair-play' criteria, ie how many yellow or red cards a team picked up.
A busy and complicated schedule
With international windows at a premium this season, and with the World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign ongoing concurrently, AFCON hopefuls are having to contend with a truncated programme for the 2025 edition.
After the Match 2024 preliminary round, the entirety of the group stage will take place across just three international breaks and with six matchdays.
The group stage began on September 2, and will conclude with the final two matchdays during next month's international break, with the final fixtures to be wrapped up on or by November 19.
Matchday 1 & 2: 2-10 September
Matchday 3 & 4: 7-15 October
Matchday 5 & 6: 11-19 November
The stand-out results so far
The continent's giants haven't had things all their own way during the early qualifying rounds, with Tunisia, notably requiring a 98th-minute winner to beat lowly Madagascar in Tunis before being stunned 1-0 by islanders Comoros in front of their own fans.
Morocco's thumping home victories over Gabon (4-1) and the Central African Republic (5-0) was an early glimpse of their champion credentials, although they were much less impressive against tiny Lesotho, failing to make the breakthrough until Brahim Díaz's 93rd-minute winner.
Morocco were one of six teams to win all of their first three matches, along with Egypt, Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo and 2019 champions Algeria.
By contrast, four-time champions Ghana are the biggest side to have failed to win a match in the first half of the group stage; the Black Stars were defeated at home by Angola, before being held by Niger 'away' and by Sudan in Accra.
The decisive matches still to come
Ghana, up against Sudan and former head coach Kwesi Appiah on Monday, have precious little room for further slip-ups if they're to reach the tournament in Morocco.
There had been hope - following a listless Nations Cup campaign under Chris Hughton - that Otto Addo could get the most out of this youthful, vibrant collective, but the Black Stars are making hard work of their group.
Guinea are in a similar position, albeit with a more optimistic outlook. After losing their first two matches, Kaba Diawara was replaced by Michel Dussuyer and he promptly oversaw a rousing 4-1 demolition of Ethiopia on Saturday with Serhou Guirassy netting a hat-trick.
After a slow start, can the Syli National prove their class in the fixtures to come - including an AFCON 2023 quarterfinal rematch against the DRC on matchday five - to return to the top table?
It will be a fascinating tussle in Group B, to see who will join group leaders Morocco in Qatar; Gabon, reinvigorated with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang back in the fold, will be hoping to give their skipper a fitting send-off at the biennial showpiece, while the Central African Republic are perhaps the best bet for a first-time qualifier at next year's tournament.
Also keep an eye out for Nigeria's trip to Benin in gameweek five.
Perhaps they'll both be qualified by then, but either way, there should be some bite to this one given the presence of ex-Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr in the Benin dugout, the neighbourly rivalry between the pair and the Guepards' victory over Nigeria in the World Cup qualifiers earlier this year.