The winner of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 will receive $10 million in prize money, the Confederation of African Football has announced.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe disclosed this on Saturday after a meeting of the CAF Executive Committee in Rabat, Morocco, a day before the kick-off of the tournament.
The AFCON Morocco 2025 is scheduled to run from Sunday, December 21, 2025, to Sunday, January 18, 2026.
According to a statement posted on CAF’s website, “The prize money for the winner represents a 43% increase from the 2023 edition, when hosts Cote d’Ivoire pocketed USD 7 million.”
The prize money has also doubled over a four-year period.
Winners of the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Cameroon 2021 earned $5 million, before the figure rose to $7 million at the Côte d’Ivoire 2023 tournament and now to $10 million in 2025, marking a 100 per cent increase.
CAF said the runners-up at the Morocco 2025 tournament will receive $4 million, while the two semi-finalists will each earn $2.5 million.
The continental body described the increment as part of efforts to enhance the value, competitiveness and global appeal of Africa’s flagship football competition. (Punch)
African football is getting a major shake-up with the creation of the African Nations League and conversion of the biennial Africa Cup of Nations to a four-year cycle.
Patrice Motsepe, the president of the Confederation of African Football, announced the changes Saturday during his news conference before the 2025 Africa Cup hosted by Morocco..
Motsepe said that the 2027 Africa Cup, to be hosted by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, will go ahead as planned and that the following edition – originally scheduled for 2029 – will be moved forward to take place in 2028. The next Africa Cup after that will be in 2032.
This would allow the first African Nations League to take place in 2029. Motsepe said it would involve each of the continent’s 54 members, divided into four geographical zones, with games in September and October before the finals are held in November.
“What is new is that … in Africa there’s going to be a competition every year where the best African players who play in Europe and worldwide will be with us on the continent,” Motsepe said.
CAF officials did not immediately specify if the African Nations League will be held on a biennial or annual basis. (AlJazeera)
Kylian Mbappé equalled Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 59 goals in a calendar year for Real Madrid with a late penalty in his side’s 2-0 home win over Sevilla in La Liga on Saturday, the French forward celebrating his 27th birthday in style.
Mbappé missed several earlier chances before getting his chance from the spot four minutes from time and he made no mistake to net his 59th goal in as many games across all competitions in 2025 to level Ronaldo’s 2013 haul.
Jude Bellingham put Real in front with a header seven minutes before half-time and Sevilla went down to 10 men with 22 minutes remaining after Marcão received a second booking but the hosts had keeper Thibaut Courtois to thank for keeping them ahead.
“Today, and because of the record, it’s incredible, in my first year to be able to do what Cristiano did,” Mbappé said afterwards. “My idol, the best player in the history of Real Madrid and a reference in world football. It’s an honour for me.”
Mbappé marked his goal by reproducing Ronaldo’s celebration, saying later: “I wanted to give him a little nod because he has always been affectionate with me. Normally I have my own celebration, but I wanted to share that with him, and like I said, he’s been my idol since I was a kid. I have a very good relationship with him, he’s a friend now.”
Real are second in the table on 42 points, one behind Barcelona who are away to third-placed Villarreal on Sunday, while Sevilla are ninth on 20 points.
Juventus kept themselves in the Serie A race with a 2-1 home win over AS Roma on Saturday, with Francisco Conceição and Loïs Openda netting the goals for the home side and Tommaso Baldanzi scoring for the visitors.
With the top three clubs all away at the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, Roma were looking to take advantage and move level on points with leaders Inter Milan. Instead, Juventus moved back into the title hunt, one point behind Roma who remain fourth on 30 points, with Juventus fifth. Milan are in second place, with Napoli third.
Roma continue to struggle against the top sides having already lost to Inter, Milan and Napoli this season.
Bayer Leverkusen scored twice in four minutes to earn a 3-1 comeback victory at RB Leipzig, snapping their hosts’ unbeaten run at home this season and climbing into third going into the Bundesliga’s winter break.
Leverkusen are on 29 points, three behind second-placed Borussia Dortmund, 2-0 winners against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday. Bayern Munich, leading on 38, are at Heidenheim on Sunday. Leipzig dropped to fourth on goal difference. (Guardian)
Lindsey Vonn added to her strong start in the Milan Cortina Olympics season with third place Saturday in a World Cup downhill won by Cornelia Huetter.
Vonn has a hat trick of podium finishes — a win, runner-up, now third — in the first three World Cup downhills across nine days of racing in Switzerland and France.
Racing immediately after Vonn, Huetter was consistently a little faster after the first time split and touched 126 kph (78 mph). She finished 0.26 seconds ahead of Kira Weidle-Winkelmann and 0.35 clear of the 41-year-old United States star.
Vonn extended her points lead in the season-long World Cup downhill standings.
A big threat to Huetter on an overcast day with tricky visibility on the 2.8-kilometer (1¾-mile) O.K. course was 2018 Olympic champion Sofia Goggia.
Goggia, wearing the No. 14 start bib, was fastest through halfway then had to stand almost straight up to correct her balance coming out of a turn. She was pushed wide into rougher snow to make the next gate.
Goggia finished 0.62 behind Huetter and shook her head in the finish area. She was in eighth place.
Vonn also looked a little anguished on seeing she was behind early leader Weidle-Winkelmann’s time and threw her arms out wide. She later congratulated Huetter with smiles and a hug when the 33-year-old Austrian was in the course-side leader’s box.
Huetter now has five downhill wins in her 10 career World Cup victories and won the season-long title in 2024. She should be a medal contender in the Olympic downhill scheduled Feb. 8 at storied Cortina d’Ampezzo.
She placed fourth in downhill at each of the two world championships held since the 2022 Beijing Olympics where she placed seventh.
Vonn’s comeback last year after nearly six seasons of retirement was to target the Milan Cortina Winter Games that will be her fifth Olympics. She took gold in 2010 at Vancouver and bronze behind Goggia at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea.
Val d’Isere stages a super-G on Sunday, one week after Vonn was fourth in the discipline at St. Moritz won by Alice Robinson of New Zealand. (JapanToday)
Erling Haaland fired Manchester City to the top of the Premier League by beating West Ham 3-0, while Liverpool continued their upturn with a 2-1 win at nine-man Tottenham on Saturday.
Arsenal can retake top spot for Christmas when they visit Everton later, but City ramped up the pressure on the Gunners with a seventh consecutive win in all competitions.
The Hammers feared a rout when Haaland smashed home after just five minutes.
Haaland turned provider for City’s second just before half-time as Tijjani Reijnders scored his first goal at the Etihad.
And he netted his 38th goal of the season already for club and country when the ball broke his way 21 minutes from time to move City one point ahead of Arsenal.
Yet, Pep Guardiola was still far from satisfied as he demanded improvements if City are to win a seventh Premier League title under his tenure.
“I want to be honest. I said to the players, ‘Merry Christmas everyone but it will not be enough if we don’t improve’.”
Liverpool extended their unbeaten run to six games after they survived a nervy finale to inflict a miserable Christmas on Spurs boss Thomas Frank.
Xavi Simons’ dangerous lunge on Dutch international team-mate Virgil van Dijk on 33 minutes left the home side with a mountain to climb.
Despite the absence of Mohamed Salah at the Africa Cup of Nations, Alexander Isak again started on the bench.
Arne Slot introduced the most expensive Premier League player of all time at the break.
The Swede netted just his third goal since joining Liverpool for £125 million in September but suffered another injury setback in the process and had to be replaced.
Hugo Ekitike headed in his fifth goal in three league games to double Liverpool’s lead.
But Slot’s men still wobbled in the closing stages once Richarlison pulled a goal back.
A fifth defeat in nine home league games this season intensified the pressure on Frank and the Dane was not helped by his captain Cristian Romero, who got himself needlessly sent off in stoppage time.
Liverpool climb up to fifth, while Spurs are rooted down in 13th.
Chelsea remain above the Reds in fourth on goal difference as a second-half fightback rescued manager Enzo Maresca from more speculation over his future.
The Italian claimed after last weekend’s win over Everton that he and his players had not received enough support during a difficult run of results.
Maresca was then linked with being Guardiola’s successor at City in recent days.
Chelsea have won just once in their last five league games to see ambitions of a title challenge wilt.
But it could have been even worse for Maresca as Nick Woltemade’s double put Newcastle 2-0 up in a dominant first half from the Magpies.
A brilliant Reece James free-kick brought the Blues back into the game before Joao Pedro pounced on an error from Malick Thiaw to equalise.
Newcastle felt aggrieved as two late appeals for penalties and for James to be sent off were dismissed to leave Eddie Howe’s men languishing in 11th.
Wolves remain without a league win this season and on course to enter the record books as the worst side in Premier League history.
Keane Lewis-Potter scored both goals as Brentford won 2-0 at Molineux to move 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
Burnley ended their seven-game losing streak as Armando Broja’s 90th-minute goal snatched a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth.
Sunderland edged up to sixth after a 0-0 draw at Brighton. (JapanToday)
Egypt beat Nigeria 2–1 in a pre-Africa Cup of Nations friendly at the Cairo International Stadium on Tuesday as both sides completed their final preparations for the tournament, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The hosts took the lead in the 28th minute through Ahmed Saber after neat work down the right by Zizo, whose low cross found the midfielder unmarked for a close-range finish. Nigeria responded with increased urgency and went close before the break, Paul Onuachu forcing a fine save from Mohamed El-Shenawy with a glancing header from Frank Onyeka’s long throw.
The Super Eagles were rewarded in first-half stoppage time when Chidozie Awaziem equalised. Zaidu Sanusi’s delayed free-kick from the right caused confusion between El-Shenawy and his near post, allowing Awaziem to nod into an empty net to draw Nigeria level at the interval.
Egypt restored their advantage eight minutes after the restart as Mostafa Mohamed capitalised on a poorly coordinated Nigerian offside trap, continuing his run before rifling past Amas Obasogie. (Punch)
The France forward Ousmane Dembélé and the Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmatí were crowned the Fifa Best men’s and women’s players of 2025 respectively at the world governing body’s awards ceremony in Doha.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Dembélé won the trophy for the first time after his club’s maiden Champions League triumph, while Barcelona’s Bonmatí won for the third consecutive year, after her club reached a Champions League final and Spain were Euro 2025 runners-up.
The best women’s coach prize was awarded to Sarina Wiegman for the fifth time, in recognition of England’s successful defence of their European title, while PSG’s Luis Enrique received the men’s coach honour.
Wiegman, in a pre-recorded acceptance speech, said: “Thank you to the FA for their continued support for me and the team. This award is actually for players and staff. We’ve shown so much conviction, belief and togetherness that led us to our second Euro win. Moving into 2026, let’s keep pushing the women’s game forward together.”
Four Lionesses – Hannah Hampton, Lucy Bronze, Leah Williamson and Alessia Russo – were named in a best women’s XI that was otherwise made up of Spain internationals: the Arsenal midfielder Mariona Caldentey and six Barcelona players.
The men’s best XI included England’s Jude Bellingham and Cole Palmer – who starred at the Club World Cup – in a team otherwise dominated by PSG and Barcelona players. Manchester City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma was named as the goalkeeper but the timeframe for these awards took into account performances between 11 August 2024 and 2 August 2025, when Donnarumma was playing for PSG. There was no place for Harry Kane, but the 18‑year‑old Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal was included.
Hampton was named the 2025 Fifa Best women’s goalkeeper, completing a global goalkeeper award double after she received the Ballon d’Or prize for keepers in September. Wiegman, Luis Enrique, Bonmatí, Dembélé and Donnarumma were also Ballon d’Or winners.
Hampton saved two penalties in the European Championship final shootout and helped Chelsea to win a domestic treble last season. She is also on the shortlist for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, which will be announced on Thursday.
Hampton is the sixth winner of Fifa’s Best women’s goalkeeper award since its inception in 2019, after Sari van Veenendaal, Sarah Bouhaddi in 2020, Christiane Endler in 2021, the two-time winner Mary Earps and the winner last year, Alyssa Naeher of the US.Votes are collected from national team coaches and captains, specialist journalists and fans, each making up 25% of the poll. Hampton thanked those who had voted for her, before namechecking her coaches: “To Sarina [Wiegman] and to Sonia [Bompastor] for the belief in me this year. Both at club and country, we’ve achieved so much and there’s still so much set out for us to go and get.”
Donnarumma took the men’s prize after lifting the Champions League for the first time at the end of a campaign in which PSG won a domestic treble. “It was an incredible year, one that will live long in my memory, and it’s touching to be recognised for my role in the success achieved over that period,” Donnarumma said.
Lizbeth Ovalle won the Marta award, for the most popular goal scored in women’s football in 2025, named after the Brazil legend Marta, who was also nominated. Ovalle took the prize for her remarkable and unusual flicked goal scored for Tigres against Guadalajara in Liga MX Femenil action on 3 March. She later signed for the American club Orlando Pride for $1.5m.
The Puskas award for the best men’s goal went to Santiago Montiel, who scored with a breathtaking overhead kick for the Argentinian side Independiente against Independiente Rivadavia. His cousin Gonzalo Montiel scored Argentina’s decisive penalty kick in the 2022 World Cup final against France. (Guardian)
Captain Virgil van Dijk says Liverpool “are absolutely united and go forward as one” after Mohamed Salah returned to the squad for Saturday’s win over Brighton.
Salah came off the bench for his first Liverpool appearance since claiming after last weekend’s 3-3 draw with Leeds that he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club.
The 33-year-old was left out of the squad for the midweek Champions League win at Inter Milan, but returned for the Brighton game following talks with manager Arne Slot – and claimed an assist in the 2-0 win.
Salah joins up with the Egypt national team for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) on Monday and could miss up to eight Liverpool games if his country go all the way to the final on 18 January.
“We showed this week that we are absolutely united. We go forward as one,” said Van Dijk, who made his 250th Premier League appearance for Liverpool on Saturday.
“Mo is going to Afcon and we all hope that he’ll be successful there and he’ll come back and be important for us for the rest of the season.
“The other side of it is that we all know football and we have no idea what is going to happen. I hope that he stays because he is one of my leaders and still very important for the football club. But there’s more parties to this situation.”
Van Dijk also praised Slot for how he handled the events of recent days, with Liverpool now unbeaten in five games since losing to PSV at Anfield in the Champions League.
“I think he has handled the situation very well – calm in his own way and it’s a very tricky situation,” said the Netherlands defender.
“There’s a lot of noise and pressure from the outside world and rightly so because we’ve not been up to the standard we’ve shown in the last few seasons.
“We’ve just got to keep going. He’s at a club which is very together and that’s how it has been before our time at the club, and that’s something we have to keep going.
“We go through the good times together, as a team, as a club and as a fanbase, but sometimes when the difficult moments arise we also have to stick together. This moment of time is a very good moment to see how everyone responds.” (BBC)
Manchester City and Aston Villa kept the pressure on Premier League leader Arsenal with wins on Sunday.
Nottingham Forest pulled further away from the relegation zone with a 3-0 victory against Tottenham and Sunderland beat Newcastle 1-0 in the Tyne-Wear derby after an own-goal from Nick Woltemade.
Arsenal had extended its lead at the top of the standings to five points with a 2-1 win against Wolves on Saturday. But a day later its closest rivals both responded with victories – second-place City winning 3-0 at Crystal Palace and Villa, in third, twice coming back to beat West Ham 3-2 at the London Stadium.
City is two points behind Arsenal and Villa is a point further back.
Beaten by Palace in the FA Cup final last season, City exacted some revenge to take all three points at Selhurst Park.
“They are so strong. Every time we play against them it’s so difficult,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “Still, we are not top, but we are learning and after what happened we will be closer in the future.”
Erling Haaland scored his 101st Premier League goal to put City in front late in the first half and he got his second of the match with an 89th-minute penalty. The Norwegian has 36 goals in 27 appearances for club and country in another remarkable scoring season. He is the league’s leading scorer with 17 goals.
Phil Foden got City’s other goal in between Haaland’s double.
Morgan Rogers scored twice in the second half to extend Aston Villa’s winning run to nine-straight games in all competitions and keep Unai Emery’s team on the heels of Arsenal and City.
Villa has lost just one of its last 13 games in the league and won 10 of its last 11, but twice had to come from behind at relegation fighting West Ham.
“We feel unstoppable, but we are making it difficult for ourselves,” Rogers said. “The battle and resilience we have means we know we can get back into it against a good team.
“We want to keep this going, it’s about being confident and I’m feeling good.”
Mateus Fernandes scored the fastest goal in England’s top flight this season when putting the home team 1-0 up after just 29 seconds. But Konstantinos Mavropanos’ own-goal leveled the game eight minutes later.
Jarrod Bowen then gave West Ham the lead at halftime with his second goal in as many games in the 24th.
Rogers leveled the game again five minutes after the break and struck the winner in the 79th.
The pressure is mounting on Tottenham coach Thomas Frank, who was left infuriated after a latest loss.
Spurs have won just one of their last seven games in the league and face defending champion Liverpool at home next week. (JapanToday)
Kazuki Higa made history as the first golfer from Japan to win the Asian Tour order of merit after finishing seventh at the season-ending Saudi Open.
Higa carded a four-under-par 68 in Saturday’s final round at Dirab Golf and Country Club, near Riyadh, to finish on 16-under, seven behind the winner Bjorn Hellgren of Sweden.
It was enough to see Higa top the standings ahead of Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent.
“I am so, so happy. This is a great honour,” said the 30-year-old Higa.
“I just love playing golf. That’s what it’s about. I can’t wait to get home to see my family.”
Higa also earned an exemption into the British Open for his achievement.
The ultra-consistent Higa started the year with three top 10s in the Philippines, India and New Zealand.
But it was back-to-back wins in September at the Shinhan Donghae Open in South Korea and the Yeangder TPC in Taiwan that shot him up the standings.
A tie for second at the International Series Philippines in October propelled him to the top of the order of merit and he never looked back.
“I have worked very hard for this,” Higa said. “I felt that last year changed things, all the hard work started to pay off and it’s amazing to see it all pay off this week.” (JapanToday)
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