Mané & Mahrez Headline AFCON Group Stage Best XI
CAF has announced the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 group stages best eleven, with Sadio Mané and Riyad Mahrez headlining the team, while Bafana Bafana have no players included.
The group stage of the competition concluded on Wednesday with Group F, which saw Bafana Bafana learn their opponent for the round of 16.
Despite Bafana’s effort in the group stage and managing to reach the knockout stage, none of Hugo Broos’ men were included in the best eleven of the group stage.
The host nation, Morocco, is dominating the best eleven, as they have two players included: Ibrahim Diaz of Real Madrid and Noussair Mazraoui of Manchester United.
Other players include Mohamed El Shenawy of Egypt, Edmond Tapsoba of Burkina Faso, Axel Tuanzebe of DR Congo, who is also the teammate of Bafana Bafana striker Lyle Foster at Burnley, as well as the Tunisian left back Ali Al-Abdi.
The other three players are Ademola Lookman of Nigeria, Amad Diallo of Ivory Coast, and the Cameroonian Carlos Baleba. The coach is Nigeria’s Eric Chelle, who won all three games in their group.
As the group stage has been finalized, the round of 16 will begin on Saturday and conclude on Tuesday next week, with two games taking place each day.
On Saturday, Senegal will host Sudan, while Tunisia will be facing Mali later in the day.
On Sunday, the host nation, Morocco, will face Tanzania, and later in the day, Bafana Bafana will be playing against Cameroon.
On Monday, Egypt will face Benin, and later in the day, Nigeria will face Mozambique. The last two games will take place on Tuesday, where Algeria will face DR Congo, and later in the day, Ivory Coast will take on Burkina Faso.
