Africa’s biggest tournament is here and we’re covering AFCON picks, parlays and best bets all tournament long. Read on for our Matchday 2 Africa Cup of Nations predictions for the following games.
AFCON Schedule: Friday, December 26
- Angola vs Zimbabwe
- Egypt vs South Africa
- Zambia va Comoros
- Morocco vs Mali
AFCON Picks
Here are today’s best bets for the Africa Cup of Nations in Groups A and B.
| Match | Pick | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Angola vs Zimbabwe | Both Teams to Score | (+125) |
| Egypt vs South Africa | Draw | (+200) |
| Zambia vs Comoros | Zambia to score & over 1.5 match goals | (-150) |
| Morocco vs Mali | Under 2.5 | (-163) |
| Parlay Pick | EGY vs SA under 3.5 / ZAM to score / MOR vs MAL under 3.5 | (-112) |
Angola vs Zimbabwe Preview
Angola (Palancas Negras)
89th in FIFA Rankings.
In Qualifying: Went 4-2-0 and won their group in low-scoring games, scoring 7 and allowing only 2.
In World Cup Qualifying: Had a poor WCQ campaign at 2-6-2, piling up draws and finishing 4th in their group.
In the 2024 AFCON: Won their group and beat Namibia in the Round of 16, before losing to Nigeria in the quarters. Dala was one of the tournament’s top scorers with 4 goals, putting him 2nd in Golden Boot scoring.
Current form: On Matchday 1 they were tied 1-1 with South Africa and it looked like it could be a draw until South Africa scored in the 79′ to get a 2-1 win.
Last week they played in a friendly vs Mozambique and won 4-1. Still, their confidence won’t be that high having won only 2/8 games, with the other vs Mauritius (176th ranked).
Zimbabwe (Warriors)
129th in FIFA Rankings.
In Qualifying: Came 2nd behind Cameroon at 2-3-1, scoring only 6 goals but also allowing only 4.
In World Cup Qualifying: Had a disastrous WCQ campaign at 0-5-5, outscored 12-5 and finishing last in their group.
In the 2024 AFCON: DNQ.
Current form: Coming into AFCON they won a friendly over Qatar 2-1 last month but in all matches are 1-1-5 and outscored 9-4 now. The Under 2.5 is 7-4 in their last 11 games. This, after giving Egypt all they could handle on Matchday 1. They were overall dominated with Egypt having 80% possession and the shots edge 32-7 and shots on target 11-3. Zimbabwe actually scored 1st in the 20′ minute and had that lead until the 64′. But it was still 1-1 until Salah scored the winner (2-1) in the 91′ minute.
Some players to consider in props are Bonne and Dube and Dube was the scorer vs Egypt.
Pick
It’s an even 8-3-8 between these teams historically but they’ve not played since 2018. This looks hard to split between two teams where neither is in good form and both lost on Matchday 1. I can see the Under 2.5 (-188), a draw (+240) or maybe BTTS (+125) all being possible. This will be a game both know they need points from with Egypt and South Africa on deck for for both, so let’s back the BTTS.
- AFCON Picks: Both to Score (+125)
Egypt vs South Africa Preview
Egypt (The Pharaohs)
34th in FIFA Rankings and AFCON’s winningest team with 7 titles.
In Qualifying: Won their group at 4-2-0, scoring 12 and allowing only 2 goals.
In World Cup Qualifying: Easily qualified to go to Canada-USA-Mexico, winning their group at 8-2-0, scoring 20 and allowing just 2 goals.
In the 2024 AFCON: Was a disappointing last AFCON drawing all 3 games in the group stage, then drawing again in the Round of 16 vs DR Congo and losing in PKs.
Current form: Had a warm-up game last week and vs a strong opponent in Nigeria and won 2-1. They weren’t good in the Arab Cup with a 1-1 draw, 1-1 draw and 3-0 loss, not advancing out of the groups.
On Matchday 1 they were put to the brink, down 1-0 to Zimbabwe until they levelled in the 64′ and then scored the winner in the 91′.
But in their last 23 games in all comps, they have only 2 losses. That 3-0 to Jordan (Arab Cup finalists) and a friendly to Uzbekistan. Only 3 times in 39 games have they not scored. But, they’ve only scored multiple goals twice in 8 games, and just barely last game.
They’ll be expected to go far in AFCON with the likes of Liverpool’s Salah and Man City’s Marmoush, who both scored in the opening game.
South Africa (Bafana Bafana)
61st in FIFA Rankings.
In Qualifying: Went undefeated in qualifying at 4-2-0, scoring 16 and allowing only 5.
In World Cup Qualifying: Won their group at 5-3-2, scoring 15 and allowing 9.
In the 2024 AFCON: Were 2nd in their group, then went on to beat Morocco and Cape Verde in the knockouts, before losing in the semis in PKs to Nigeria.
Current form: Bafana Bafana will came into AFCON as one of the form teams right now being undefeated in 9 games (4-5-0). They stayed strong winning on Matchday 1, by a 2-1 score over Angola.
They now have just 1 loss in 14 games.
Burnley’s Lyle Foster is one of the bigger names, and he has 2 goals in the EPL this year and scored the winner on Matchday 1. MLS fans, can watch CB Mbokazi who is set to join the Chicago Fire after the tournament. Meanwhile, keeper Williams was last tournament’s Golden Glove winner and is the captain of the team.
Pick
South Africa has owned this matchup lately being 3-2-0 in the last 5 and that’s included 2 games in 2025 in the African Nations Championship. First a 1-1 draw and then a 3-1 win. The Under 2.5 is 6-1 in their last 7 meetings.
Both teams are in good form, both won on Matchday 1 and both were very close to ending drawn. I see a draw here.
- AFCON Picks: Draw (+200)
Zambia vs Comoros Preview
Zambia (Chipolopolo)
90th in FIFA Rankings.
In Qualifying: Edged out Ivory Coast for 1st in the group at 4-1-1, scoring 7 and allowing just 4 goals.
In World Cup Qualifying: They won’t be at the World Cup after being 4th in their group at 3-0-5. That cost their coach his job, so they have a new man, former CB Moses Sichone.
In the 2024 AFCON: Failed to get out of their group going winless at 0-2-1.
Current form: Matchday 1 was close vs Mali, but they were down 1-0 after an hour and it almost ended 1-0 until they drew level late on in the 92′ minute.
Their last match before that was a friendly 3-1 loss to South Africa last month and they’ve now won only 1/12 games in all matches. But recent scores have been close at: 1-1, 1-0, 2-0, 1-0, 1-0 and 3-1.
Daka is the man to watch up top for player props with 21 goals in 48 caps and he scored the equalizer vs Mali.
Comoros (Los Coelacanthes)
108th in FIFA Rankings.
In Qualifying: Went undefeated at 3-3-0 in mostly low-scoring games scoring 7 and allowing 4 and winning Group A.
In World Cup Qualifying: They weren’t as successful in WCQ winning 5 and losing 5 to finish 4th in their group.
In the 2024 AFCON: They were not in the last edition of this tournament. But in 2021, they made it to the Round of 16.
Current form: After a 4-4 draw with Yemen in Arab Cup, they won in PKs to make it to the Group Stage this fall, but then went winless in 3 games losing 3-1, 3-1 and 2-1. The winless run continued on Matchday 1 losing 2-0 to hosts Morocco, while having just 29% possession. Still, the game was 0-0 until midway through the 2nd half.
They now have only 2 clean sheets in 9 games (both friendlies) and there’s been 2+ goals in 9/11 games.
Pick
Zambia is 4-1-0 vs this opponent, however, their most recent game in 2023 ended in a 1-1 draw in in AFCON qualifying. Zambia won 2-1 in the COSAFA Cup in 2023 as well. Typically there’s been goals with other scores being 2-1, 2-1, and 4-0 Zambia.
Neither teams is great here and are hard to trust. Zambia are favored but only at +120. With Morocco on deck, they may be looking to get some points here. With matchups between these teams usually having goals, let’s bet on a couple of goals and Zambia contributing. Comoros games have recently seen 4, 8, 4, 4, 3 and 2 goals.
- AFCON Picks: Zambia to score and over 1.5 (-150)
Morocco vs Mali Preview
Morocco (Atlas Lions)
11th in FIFA Rankings.
In Qualifying: The hosts rolled through their qualifying group last year winning all 6 games by a combined score of 26-2. Brahim Diaz led all players with 7 goals, though recently, he’s not done much with Real Madrid. On the downside, captain Achraf Hakimi looks to be injured to start the tournament. So too is Amrabat and Hamza.
In World Cup Qualifying: They were also a perfect 8-0-0 and outscored opponents 22-2. The first time an African team has been perfect in WCQ qualifying. And if we look back to the 2022 World Cup they went all the way to the semis.
In the 2024 AFCON: While they also went undefeated in the Group Stage at the last tournament at 2-1-0, their time in the knockouts was short-lived, losing 2-0 to South Africa. While they’re favored to go far and are the outright favorites to win the title, they haven’t won AFCON since the 1976.
Current form: Morocco actually had another big game to play last week before AFCON, being in the Arab Cup Final vs Jordan which went back and forth and saw them tied 2-2, in a game that needed extra-time to see Morocco crowned the winners 3-2.
They opened AFCON with a 2-0 win over Comoros, though it was 0-0 until Diaz and El Kaabi scored in the 55′ and 74′ minutes.
They’ve now gone undefeated in 18 overall matches, with just 3 of those games ended drawn in regulation. In 17/18 and 30/32 games they’ve scored. They’ve also kept clean sheets in 11/13.
Mali (Les Aigles)
54th in FIFA Rankings.
In Qualifying: Mali topped their qualifying group without losing at 4-2-0, scoring 10 and allowing just 1 goal.
In World Cup Qualifying: Mail missed out on qualifying by being 3rd in their group behind Ghana and Madagascar at 5-3-2.
In the 2024 AFCON: In the last AFCON they won their group but with only 1 win at 1-2-0. From there they beat Burkina Faso in the Round of 16, before losing to eventual champs Ivory Coast 2-1 in the quarterfinals
Current form: In all comps they come into this game with decent form at 3-2-1 after drawing Zambia 1-1 on Matchday 1, being moments away from the win before Zambia scored in stoppage time.
The BTTS bet rarely hits in Mali games outside of last game, with both teams scoring only twice in their last 14 games. Under 2.5 is 6-2 and oddly despite lower-scoring games they’ve only drawn 2/11.
One of Mali’s key players could miss out in Tottenham’s Bissouma. But their top man up top should be Besiktas’ Toure. He’s got 2G/2A in his last 4 games and just had 6 shots on target 3 games back. It was Sinayoko who scored though vs Zambia.
Pick
Morocco is 9-5-6 vs Mali and have only lost 1/6 recently vs them, while also only conceding 1 goal in those 6 games. But only 1 game has been in the last 8 years and it was back in 2021, a 2-0 Morocco win.
This looks tight and while the edge has to go to to hosts, betting Under 2.5 may be the safer approach, given both are strong defensively and Morocco rarely lose. You could perhaps look to one of the Moroccan attackers, like Diaz to have a shot on target to improve a same game parlay.
- AFCON Picks: Under 2.5 (-163)
AFCON Parlay Best Bet
For today’s bet, let’s take Under 3.5 in two games that look very tight (Egypt vs South Africa and Morocco vs Mali), and back Zambia to score vs a weak Comoros defense.
- Picks: EGY vs SA under 3.5 / MOR vs MAL under 3.5 / ZAM to score (-112)
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Ryan Métivier is a seasoned editor, writer and communications professional with years of experience in all fields. When it comes to covering sports, he’s written for numerous outlets and organizations including the OHL, CHL, SportsXpress, Sports Betting Dime, Cleveland.com, MassLive, FanSided and others.
While he’ll always cheer for his hometown Toronto teams, when it comes to betting, his only allegiance is his bankroll. Ryan specializes in global soccer, the NFL and the NHL, but if there is a bet to be made, he’ll make it. As the founder of Shred The Spread, Ryan focuses on combining storylines, trends, analytics and good bankroll management to creating simple bets that make sense.
When not making a case for why both teams will score in an MLS soccer match, he can be found focusing his efforts on fitness, attempting to learn Spanish, cooking or planning his travel adventure.
