Born in Halle, active for Chemie Leipzig, national hero in Mozambique: thanks to Stanley Ratifo, Mozambique won the last ticket for the 2025 Africa Cup on Tuesday. Some big nations are missing.
Since making his debut for Mozambique in June 2017, Stanley Ratifo has become a national hero in Mozambique – the 29-year-old, who has been playing for the northeast region BSG Chemie Leipzig, once again underpinned this status on Tuesday: the Halle-born attacker scored the 2-1 winning goal in the 52nd minute of Mozambique’s decisive qualifier against direct rivals Guinea-Bissau. This result secured second place for Mozambique in Group I and thus the last ticket for next year’s Africa Cup, which will take place in Morocco from December 21, 2025 to January 18, 2026.
Before the game, Guinea-Bissau were third with five points, while Mozambique were second with eight. Since Mozambique had won the first leg in the capital Maputo 2-1, only a victory by Guinea-Bissau with a two-goal difference would have paved the way to Morocco. In Bissau, Mozambique took the lead after just nine minutes through Bruno Langa (UD Almeria). However, the West Africans were given hope when Beto (Everton) equalized in the 52nd minute. But Ratifo’s winning goal for Mozambique removed any doubt.
This means that the field of participants for the 2025 Africa Cup is complete, with Mozambique getting the last ticket. Morocco, as the host country, has an automatic right to participate, but still took part in the qualifiers in Group B. That’s why only one nation, second-place Gabon, qualified in Group B.
Ghana fail and disappoint across the board
A number of big names had already booked their tickets to Morocco beforehand. These included record winners Egypt (7 titles), Cameroon (5), Nigeria and title defenders Côte d’Ivoire (3 each). The two North African heavyweights Tunisia and Algeria lived up to their role, having no trouble at all qualifying in their groups. But some stumbled. For example, four-time title holder Ghana, who only came last in their group F with just four points and completely disappointed. At the last minute, Guinea, with Bundesliga professionals Serhou Guirassy (VfB Stuttgart) and Aliou Baldé (VfL Bochum), also lost out on the Africa Cup after losing 1-0 in Tanzania.
The 24 participants of the Africa Cup 2025
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- Algeria
- Angola
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Côte d’Ivoire (defending champion)
- Gabon
- Cameroon
- Comoros
- Mali
- Morocco (host)
- Mozambique
- Nigeria
- Senegal
- South Africa
- Zimbabwe
- South Africa
- Sudan
- Tanzania
- Tunisia
- Uganda