The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, held in Morocco, has seen a prominent appearance of Arab stars who have firmly established their presence in the record books by achieving historic feats that reflect the Arab influence on the continental football event. Among strikers who broke long-standing records, goalkeepers who wrote their names at the top, and stars who continued to build glory across consecutive editions, the tournament is transforming into a stage for unprecedented achievements in the history of the 'AFCON'. Five stars who are expected to deliver more during this African tournament. Mohamed Salah Mohamed Salah continues to write history with the 'Pharaohs' national team, becoming the first Egyptian player to score in five consecutive editions of the Africa Cup of Nations following his crucial goal against Zimbabwe, leading his team to a valuable 2-1 victory at the start of their campaign. Salah scored in the 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025 editions, confirming his rare longevity at the highest continental level, an achievement no Egyptian player had accomplished before him. Riyad Mahrez The Algerian Riyad Mahrez cemented his status as one of the greatest players in the history of the 'Desert Warriors', becoming the all-time top scorer for Algeria in the Africa Cup of Nations finals with eight goals, surpassing his country's legend, Lakhdar Belloumi (six goals). Mahrez did not stop at this feat; he also scored Algeria's fastest goal in the history of its participation in the tournament since his teammate Baghdad Bounedjah's goal in the 2019 final against Senegal. Additionally, he rose to second place on the list of Algeria's all-time top scorers with 36 goals, tying with Abdelhafiz Tassaft. Yassine Bounou Yassine Bouno wrote a new chapter in Moroccan goalkeeping history by keeping a clean sheet against the Comoros Islands, reaching his seventh match without conceding a goal in the Africa Cup of Nations. With this number, Bouno became the most Moroccan goalkeeper to achieve a 'clean sheet' in the tournament's history, surpassing the previous record of legendary goalkeeper Badou Zaki (six matches), while Khaled Fahmi came in third with five matches. Luca Zidane The first round of the tournament saw the first appearance of goalkeeper Luca Zidane, son of French legend Zinedine Zidane, with the Algerian national team against Sudan, an event that attracted attention, especially with his father in the stands to watch the match. Luca Zidane stood out in his first appearance, managing to keep a clean sheet, becoming the first Algerian goalkeeper to do so in an opening match since AFCON 2019. Sami Trabelsi The Tunisian coach Sami Trabelsi etched his name into the record books by leading the Tunisian national team to its first-ever victory in an opening match of the Africa Cup of Nations since 2013, following a 3-1 victory over Uganda in the first round of Group C. The Tunisian team had failed to win in its opening matches in the last five editions before Trabelsi broke this historical streak, repeating the feat of the 2013 edition when he led the 'Carthage Eagles' to a 1-0 victory over Algeria.
