ENTEBBE – The departures lounge at Entebbe International Airport is rarely quiet, but on Sunday evening, it carried a sharper, almost electric anticipation. As families hugged goodbye and a small cluster of young men in matching yellow tracksuits moved through the terminal.
These were the Uganda Cranes, seventeen players, flanked by as many officials, starting their journey toward Morocco and, they hope, toward a long-awaited rebirth at the Africa Cup of Nations.
For a country whose footballing glory has lived mostly in memory, each AFCON appearance is a reminder of what once was and what could be again.
An 11-Day Sprint Toward Readiness
The Cranes’ Morocco camp will last eleven days, packed with two friendly matches and daily training as they tune up for their opening game against Tunisia on 23 December. The rest of the squad, thirteen players, will link up directly from their clubs abroad, completing the thirty-man roster.
The balance of youth and experience in this team is striking. Some, like Allan Okello and Travis Mutyaba, carry the hopes of a new generation; others, like goalkeepers Salim Jamal and Charles Lukwago, bring the calm of seasoned professionals who have worn the jersey through lean years.
Behind them is a large, almost European-style backroom team: performance analysts, fitness specialists, physiotherapists, a sports scientist, and a leader of delegation in Dr Apollo Ahimbisibwe. It is the most technically equipped Cranes staff ever sent to a major tournament, suggesting a federation intent on leaving little to chance.
Uganda’s Long Road Back to the Big Stage
For Ugandans, the AFCON is not just a tournament. It is the stage on which their greatest footballing story was written.
In 1978, a fearless Cranes side fought its way to the final, stunning Morocco and Tunisia on the way before falling 2–0 to hosts Ghana. Names like Phillip Omondi, Jimmy Kirunda and Moses Nsereko are still invoked with awe, heroes from a team that played with flair, courage and a touch of rebellion.
Since that golden run, Uganda has struggled to match the magic. Six more qualifications followed—1962, 1968, 1974, 1976, 1978, 2017, 2019, but the gaps between appearances have often mirrored the challenges at home: political turmoil, federation instability, funding woes, player migrations.
The 2017 qualification after a 39-year drought felt like a rebirth, and the 2019 Round-of-16 run suggested something even greater. But failing to qualify in 2021 and 2023 reset expectations and rekindled old questions.
Now, as the Cranes step into AFCON 2025, the narrative feels unfinished—hope carefully threaded with realism.
Morocco Awaits—and So Do Old Rivals
Uganda opens against Tunisia, a familiar and formidable foe. For a team rebuilding its identity under Coach Paul Put, the opening match will likely define the tournament.
Who Made the Flight?
Seventeen of the thirty players departed from Kampala, including:
Salim Jamal, Charles Lukwago, Isaac Muleme, Rogers Torach, Hilary Mukundane, Allan Okello, Rogers Mato, Ivan Ahimbisibwe, David Owori, Bobosi Byaruhanga, Travis Mutyaba, Jude Ssemugabi, Shafik Kwikiriza, Reagan Mpande, James Bogere, Ronald Sekiganda and Denis Omedi.
From midfield creators to towering defenders and quick-footed forwards, this core group forms the spine Put will shape in Morocco.
Why This Campaign Feels Different
Two things make Uganda’s 2025 AFCON journey feel unlike previous attempts:
The scale of preparation.
With an expanded technical staff and improved sports science support, the Cranes are preparing like a modern continental side—not the underdogs of old.
A generation that knows the stakes.
Many of the players came of age during Uganda’s recent football renaissance. They do not see qualification as a miracle but as a standard.
And yet, football remains gloriously unpredictable. That is both the fear and the thrill.
A Nation Watches, and Waits
As the Cranes’ plane lifted off from Entebbe, the story of this tournament remained unwritten. What is certain is that Uganda’s football narrative has reached another pivotal bend. Whether this squad finds inspiration in Morocco or faces another hard lesson, they carry with them decades of longing—and the hopes of millions.
For once, the Cranes are not just travelling to a tournament.
They are travelling toward a reckoning with their own history.
And perhaps, if everything aligns, toward a return to the heights where that history was made.
