Benni McCarthy snubs Bafana Bafana as he picks AFCON 2025 favourites

Bafana Bafana finished third at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and as such, they are among teams tipped to go further in the 2025 edition in Morocco.

However, Bafana Bafana legend Benni McCarthy does not consider them one of the teams that will win the title despite the improvements made by coach Hugo Broos to the squad.

South Africa’s all-time record scorer feels there are other teams way better than Bafana Bafana who he has tipped to contest for and win this year’s title at the tournament that takes place from December 21 to January 18, 2026.

“In qualifying [for 2026 World Cup], I faced Ivory Coast once and I think they’ve got a really good squad,” McCarthy, who is Kenya national team coach, told Best Betting Sites.

Who is McCarthy picking for AFCON 2025?

“They have decent players. They’ve got Amad Diallo, as well, as part of their team. They look really strong, they look good, and they could have a say in this African Nations Cup,” he added of the AFCON 2023 champions.

Besides Ivory Coast, McCarthy also feels hosts Morocco will be hard to beat and have the best squad which should see them claim the trophy on home soil.

“When you look on paper and you see the strength and depth in each squad, I’m leaning more towards the host, Morocco,” he said.

“I think Morocco is a formidable squad. You know, they’re strong and they’ll have the backing of all the fans, the passionate Moroccan fans that will fill the stadiums for every match. I think the hosts Morocco; it looks like they could take it.”

Benni in awe of Morocco’s development

The former AmaZulu and Cape Town City coach is also impressed with the structures Morocco have put in place for their football which has seen the senior team reach the 2022 World Cup semi-final, a first for an African country, U20 reach AFCON 2025 final before winning the U20 World Cup in Chile last week.

“And if you look now in modern-day football, Morocco’s under-20 national team is in the final at the Under-20 World Cup in Chile. They’ve just reached the final,” he said.

“So the trajectory of Moroccan football is really on the up. The Olympic team got into the semi-final of the Olympics. There’s something that Morocco is really doing well. Morocco will be my favourites to win the tournament.”

Despite their great squad and football structures, Morocco have not won AFCON since 1976 and were eliminated by Bafana Bafana at the Round of 16 in the 2023 edition in Ivory Coast.