Ivory Coast vs Mozambique prediction 24.12.2025 | Africa Cup of Nations

Ivory Coast are one of the best teams at the African Cup of Nations with three titles. Their most recent trophy came at the previous tournament in 2023. Defending a title is usually harder than winning it for the first time, but the Elephants seem capable of doing so.

Ivory Coast are in excellent form in 2025. Emerse Fae's team secured their return to the World Cup after finishing first in their qualifying group and will welcome the African Cup of Nations with a lot of confidence. Ivory Coast have won four of the last six matches. In the most recent outing, Fae's team won 2-0 in a friendly game against Oman.

Ahead of the championship, Ivory Coast head coach Emerse Fae talked about the goals for the competition. He said, "We're going to Morocco to be strong. We have a very close-knit group. The players tell us that they are ready and that they have the same objective as the technical staff. They are motivated to win the AFCON and bring back the 4th star. We go to win. There is no additional pressure. We will fight and wet the jersey to go as far as possible."

Most Ivory Coast players are playing in the top five leagues of Europe. Probably the most exciting players in the squad are among the youngest: Amad Diallo (Manchester United), Yan Diomande (RB Leipzig), Ousmane Diomande (Sporting CP), and Bazoumana Toure (Hoffenheim). It seems that the Ivory Coast have a very bright future. Also, in the squad are well-experienced Wilfried Zaha, Jean Michael Seri, and Willy Boly.

Mozambique are far from the best African teams. They never came out of the group in the continental competition, and that seems unlikely in the upcoming tournament, either. In the World Cup qualifiers, Mozambique ended with 18 points in 10 matches, but that was not nearly enough for to challenge Algeria, the best team in the group. 

The last few months were tough for Mozambique, as they have won two of the previous eight matches. Last week, Chiquinho Conde's team lost 4-1 in a friendly against Angola. That was another match in which Mozambique had too many problems in defense and will need to improve that urgently to have any chances of reaching the knockout phase. 

Most Mozambique players are unknown to the wider football audience. The best players are Geny Catamo, a midfielder who is playing regularly for Sporting CP, and Sunderland's left back Reinildo Mandava.