The tournament in Morocco will be remembered for a long time: it gave us incredible matches and proved that African football has become tactically mature and in line with global trends. Sports betting site 1xBet, the official partner of CAF and the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, sums up the exciting tournament.
Goals are back
This tournament has been the highest-scoring since 2012 – in three weeks, the teams have scored a total of 121 goals, averaging 2.33 goals per game.
The final stages could have raised the bar even higher, but starting with the semi-finals, the teams became more cautious: only 2 goals were scored in 4 matches. The price of a mistake was too high, and the pressure of responsibility took its toll. But the statistics don’t negate the main thing – the tournament gave us many bright and truly beautiful goals. Suffice it to recall Ayoub El Kaabi’s spectacular scissor kicks in the matches against Zambia and the Comoros.
The tournament’s biggest stars confirmed their status
The list of top scorers at CAN 2025 includes present-day stars and even legends of African football. Mohamed Salah and Victor Osimhen scored 4 goals each, while Riyad Mahrez, Ademola Lookman and Amad Diallo scored three times.
Three other players who received individual awards at the tournament are also worth mentioning. First, the best goalkeeper, Yassine Bounou: 2 goals conceded in 7 games is an excellent result. Secondly, Brahim Díaz, the top scorer with 5 goals. True, he failed to score a penalty at a crucial moment in the final, but he had played brilliantly throughout the tournament.
The legendary Sadio Mané was named the best player of the Africa Cup of Nations. 2 goals and 2 assists only highlight his influence on Senegal’s play, but don’t fully reveal the former Liverpool player’s contribution. What’s more important is that it was Mané who gave his all for the victory and led the Lions of Teranga to triumph for the second time in the last three tournaments. In the semi-final, his goal secured victory over Egypt, and at the decisive moment in the final, Sadio became the voice of reason, convincing his teammates to keep fighting after the referee’s two controversial decisions, which provoked a stormy reaction from the coaching staff and fans of the Senegal national team.
No surprises as an indicator of the tournament’s growing status
Journalists called the list of the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finalists perhaps the strongest in the history of the tournament. Each of the teams, except Mali, has participated in the World Cup finals at least three times. This is an indicator of the tournament’s status, with all the favorites arriving in excellent form.
The downside of this is a lack of sensations. Indeed, there were some local surprises: Burkina Faso’s comeback with goals against Equatorial Guinea in the 95th and 98th minutes, as well as the performance of the Tanzania national team, which managed to reach the knockout stage with only 2 points. But there were no major surprises, such as Zambia’s victory in 2012 or even Burkina Faso’s semi-final appearance in 2022.
However, spectators could see that the best of the best fought to the end, and starting from the quarter-final matches, there was no clear domination of one team over another. The tournament showed that African football has come a long way in its development and is now creating a unique and globally competitive product.
You can follow future Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and the performances of African national teams at the World Cup with the official partner of the tournament, the best sports betting site 1xBet! Place bets on the achievements of African representatives at the Mundial and support the continent’s best teams!
