For the first time since its inception in 1957, the Africa Cup of Nations title will be won by an African coach which will be an unprecedented four trophies in succession.
This follows the elimination of Mali and Algeria at the ongoing tournament in Morocco at the quarter final stages.
Mali, eliminated by Senegal are coached by Belgian Tom Saintfiet while Algeria, beaten by Nigeria Super Eagles are managed by Bosnian Swiss Vladimir Petkovic.
Now, the remaining nations are all managed by African coaches with hosts Morocco under Walid Regragui, Nigeria (Malien Eric Chelle), Senegal (Pape Thiaw) and Egypt (Hossam Hassan).
In the past, African countries have relied on imported coaching expertise, relying mainly on European coaches to achieve success. But the work of legends such as Egypt’s Hassan Shehata, who led the Pharaohs to three successive AFCON titles from 2006 to 2010, proved Africa is capable.
Before Shehata, Ghana’s Charles Gyamfi had already shown the way with three titles, winning in 1963 and 1965, then returning 17 years later to claim victory again – true legends of the game.
The two legends are joined by other ten African coaches with the latest to join the list being Emerse Fae who lifted it with Ivory Coast in 2023 joining Algeria’s Djamel Belmadi (2019) and Senegal’s Aliou Cissé (2022) to have claimed the last three titles.
Meanwhile, of the previous 34 editions, 17 have been won by African coaches and 17 by foreigners.
Here is a full list of African coaches who have conquered and won the AFCON since its inaugural edition:
Sudan 1957: Mourad Fahmy (Egypt)
Ghana 1963: Charles Gyamfi (Ghana)
Tunisia 1965: Charles Gyamfi (Ghana)
Ghana 1978: Fred Osam Doudu (Ghana)
Libya 1982: Charles Gyamfi (Ghana)
Algeria 1990: Abdelhamid Kermali (Algeria)
Senegal 1992: Martial Yeo (Cote d’Ivoire)
South Africa 1996: Clive Barker (South Africa)
Burkina Faso 1998: Mohamed Al Gohari (Egypt)
Egypt 2006: Hassan Shehata (Egypt)
Ghana 2008: Hassan Shehata (Egypt)
Angola 2010: Hassan Shehata (Egypt)
South Africa 2013: Stephen Keshi (Nigeria)
Egypt 2019: Djamel Belmadi (Algeria)
Cameroon 2021: Aliou Cisse (Senegal)
Cote d’Ivoire 2023: Emerse Fae (Cote d’Ivoire)
Morocco 2025: Walid Regragui (Morocco), Eric Chelle (Nigeria), Pape Thiaw (Senegal) & Hossam Hassan (Egypt)?