A Rocky Road for Liberia to AFCON 2025

By: W. Roland James

South Africa: The TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2025 qualifiers draw was released on Thursday (July 4) in Johannesburg, South Africa, with 48 countries being grouped in 12 zones.

In this light, the Lone Star is paired in Group E with Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, and Togo whose national teams stand to have better rankings in FIFA's World Football and in Africa than Liberia.

With the rankings of Algeria at 44th place in FIFA's World Football and 7th place in Africa, Equatorial Guinea at 89th place in FIFA's World Football and 17th in Africa, at 120th place in FIFA's World Football and 32nd in Africa, many sports pundits believe this is a difficult task for the Lone Star's Head Coach, Mario Marinica whose side is the least ranked in the group.

Liberia which is certain to embark on this rocky journey in September this year is ranked 142nd place in FIFA's World Football and 42nd in Africa. 

The FIFA World Football Ranking is estimated based on the current of a national team which is considered by points accumulated from every international encounter.

Besides, the Lone Star of Liberia has met with Algeria six times, drawing 3 and losing three. Meanwhile, the Red White, and Blue side have met with Togo seventeen times, winning 4, drawing 4, and losing 9. Liberia has encountered Equatorial Guinea, four times, winning 1, drawing 2, and losing 1. With these statistics, it shows that Liberia does have a good record with her fellow group members.

However, this remains one of the mandates given to Coach Mario Marinica by the Liberia Football Association (LFA) to qualify the nation for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) which is expected to officially kick off in December 2025 in Morocco.

Although this appears to be a difficult task, Coach Mario has been doing well with the Lone Star since taking over, managing four official games, winning two and drawing two, which led to the recent promotion of Liberia in FIFA's World Football from 152 to 142 place in the latest ranking.

This is a strive for Liberia to reach the finals of the tournament since she last participated in 2002 about 22 years ago.