RABAT, Morocco (AP) — South Africa coach Hugo Broos isn’t getting that usual Africa Cup of Nations feeling in Morocco.
Broos, who led Cameroon to the title in 2017 in Gabon and took South Africa to third place at the 2023 edition in Ivory Coast, said Sunday there was a lack of enthusiasm for the 35th Africa Cup.
“In the Ivory Coast and in Gabon, every second of the tournament you felt that you were in a tournament,” Broos said. “The people were – when we went with the bus to train – the people were waving and they were with flags, and here you see nothing. So, I don’t know, but yeah, there is no vibe, there is no typical AFCON vibe. I don’t feel it here.”
The Belgian coach was speaking in Marrakech ahead of South Africa’s final group game against Zimbabwe on Monday. The Bafana Bafana opened with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Angola in Marrakech and then lost 1-0 to Egypt in Agadir.
Egypt is already through to the last 16 from Group B with a maximum six points from two games. It is followed by South Africa on three while Angola and Zimbabwe each have a point.
Angola plays Egypt on Monday and the top two progress from each group, along with the best third-place finishers.
Organizers have struggled to fill stadiums and the weather hasn’t helped. There has been heavy rainfall every day of the tournament, except for Thursday when there were no games on the Christian holiday of Christmas Day. Morocco is a predominately Muslim country.
The tournament was originally scheduled for the summer, but it was pushed back to winter so it wouldn’t clash with FIFA’s new Club World Cup played in the United States.
Even Morocco games, which were all sold out, have featured empty seats with touts blamed for snapping up tickets, frustrating fans’ efforts to get access to the near 70,000-capacity Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, where the home team is playing all its group games.
Security at other stadiums has allowed fans free entrance after kickoff to increase attendance. It has led to supporters without tickets waiting outside on the assumption they will be allowed in.
“Nobody came to see the game South Africa-Angola,” Broos said after criticizing the arrangements for his team’s subsequent match against Egypt. “It was chaos before the game ... they blocked everyone, even people with tickets. They couldn’t enter in the stadium because there was a crowd of people who didn’t have a ticket and who were allowed to come in.”
Broos praised the “nice stadiums” – all nine were newly constructed or renovated for the tournament – but said the atmosphere at the 2025 Africa Cup was uncharacteristically “cool.”
“If they don’t let the people free in the stadium, there is nobody,” he said. “Nobody is coming to watch the game South Africa-Zimbabwe."
Morocco is also a co-host for the 2030 World Cup.
AP at the Africa Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-cup-of-nations
A general view of the Tangier Grand Stadium is seen during the Africa Cup of Nations group D soccer match between Senegal and Botswana in Tangier, Morocco, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
South Africa's head coach Hugo Broos sits on the bench ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations group B soccer match between Angola and South Africa in Marrakech, Morocco, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Winter rain lashed the Gaza Strip over the weekend, flooding camps with ankle-deep puddles as Palestinians displaced by two years of war attempted to stay dry in tents frayed by months of use.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled for an expected meeting on Monday with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida about the second phase of the ceasefire. The first phase that took effect on Oct. 10 was meant to bring a surge in humanitarian aid for Gaza, including shelter.
Netanyahu made no public statement as he departed.
In the southern city of Khan Younis, blankets were soaked and clay ovens meant for cooking were swamped. Children wearing flip-flops waded through puddles. Some people used shovels or tin cans to remove water from tents. Others clawed at the ground to pry collapsed shelters from the mud.
"We drowned last night,” said Majdoleen Tarabein, displaced from Rafah in southern Gaza. “Puddles formed, and there was a bad smell. The tent flew away. We don’t know what to do or where to go.” She and family members tried to wring muddy blankets dry by hand.
“When we woke up in the morning, we found that the water had entered the tent,” said Eman Abu Riziq, also displaced in Khan Younis. “These are the mattresses. They are all completely soaked.” She said her family is still reeling from her husband’s death less than two weeks ago.
“Where are the mediators? We don’t want food. We don’t want anything. We are exhausted. We just want mattresses and covers,” said Fatima Abu Omar as she tried to prop up a collapsing shelter.
At least 12 people, including a 2-week-old infant, have died since Dec. 13 from hypothermia or weather-related collapses of war-damaged homes, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government.
Emergency workers have warned people not to stay in damaged buildings because they could collapse. But with much of the territory in rubble, there are few places to escape the rain. The United Nations in July estimated that almost 80% of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged.
Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, 414 people have been killed and 1,142 wounded in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry. The overall Palestinian death toll from the war is at least 71,266. The ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.
Aid deliveries into Gaza are falling far short of the amount called for under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, according to aid organizations and an Associated Press analysis of the Israeli military’s figures.
The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid said in the past week that 4,200 trucks with aid entered Gaza, plus eight garbage trucks to assist with sanitation, as well as tents and winter clothing. It refused to elaborate on the number of tents; aid groups have said the need far outstrips the number that have entered.
Since the ceasefire began, approximately 72,000 tents and 403,000 tarps have entered, according to the Shelter Cluster, an international coalition of aid providers led by the Norwegian Refugee Council.
“Harsh winter weather is compounding more than two years of suffering. People in Gaza are surviving in flimsy, waterlogged tents and among ruins. There is nothing inevitable about this. Aid supplies are not being allowed in at the scale required,” Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the top U.N. group overseeing aid in Gaza, wrote on social media.
Though the ceasefire agreement has mostly held, its progress has slowed.
Israel has said it refuses to move to the next phase while the remains of the final hostage killed in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war are still in Gaza. Hamas has said the destruction in Gaza has hampered efforts to find remains.
Challenges in the next phase include the deployment of an international stabilization force, a technocratic governing body for Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and further Israeli troop withdrawals from the territory.
Both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of truce violations.
Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
A previous version corrected to say the ceasefire came into effect on Oct. 10.
Find more of AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Palestinian children carry sacks filled with firewood as they walk through a displacement camp in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinian children carry plastic jerrycans filled with water as they walk through a displacement camp in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians walk along a street lined with war-damaged buildings in the rain, in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A Palestinian child carries a bag of flour on his back at a makeshift camp on the beach, in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A temporary camp for displaced Palestinians on the beach, near the port of Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Members of the Al-Ajouri family stand by their tent that was destroyed by a strong wind and rain in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians receive donated food at a temporary camp for displaced people, on the beach near the port of Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
