Pape Thiaw, Hossam Hassan, Éric Chelle, Walid Regragui. These are respectively the coaches of Senegal, Egypt, Nigeria and Morocco, who will lead their teams in the semi-finals of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. It’s simple: since 1965, never before had the ace box been composed exclusively of local coaches. That’s to say how exceptional this event is.
Beyond this fact, it demonstrates a new deal in African football: leaders increasingly trust their technicians. In Senegal, Pape Thiaw, former international and member of the team in 2002 ( AFCON final, World Cup quarter-finalist), took over from his former teammate Aliou Cissé.
In Egypt, Hossam Hassan, legend of the Pharaohs and best scorer in the history of the team (68 goals, one more than Mo Salah), was inducted after the AFCON 2023.
Morocco, on the other hand, has been under the leadership of Walid Regragui, former defender of the Atlas Lions, since 2021. As for Nigeria, the coach is certainly not local, but he is a former Malian international, therefore from the continent.
New tradition respected
This trend also serves to highlight another fact. Even if the winner of the AFCON 2025 is not yet known, one thing is certain: it will be an African coach who will be crowned. And this, for the 4th edition in a row. In 2019, Djamel Belmadi had won the AFCON at the head of Algeria. In 2022, it was Aliou Cissé with Senegal, whereas during the previous edition, Emerse Faé had been crowned with Côte d’Ivoire. Since 2017 and the triumph of Belgian Hugo Broos with Cameroon, no non-African coach has won the competition.
To go back even further, former Nigerian international Stephen Keshi led the Super Eagles to the coronation in 2013, while the Egyptian magician Hassan Shehata won three consecutive editions with Egypt (2006, 2008, 2010).
In addition, other figures illustrate the takeover of African coaches on the continent. Of the 24 teams entered Morocco, 15 were led by African coaches. To crown it all, out of the 16 teams that qualified in the round of 16, there were 11 who were coached by African technicians.
Finally, in the history of the AFCON, only two coaches have won the trophy as players and then as coaches: Egyptian Mahmoud El-Gohary and Nigerian Stephen Keshi. Among the remaining coaches, only Hossam Hassan was crowned as a player. He can therefore make history by becoming the 3rd to be crowned as a player and coach.