Benin head coach Gernot Rohr said that other strong contenders will be competing for top spot against South Africa and Morocco.
The countdown to Africa's biggest football spectacle is well underway, with the continent's elite nations set to battle it out in Morocco from 21 December.
Read: Mourinho banned, slapped with whopping R815k fine
While Rohr's Benin side prepares to face Zimbabwe and Bafana Bafana in their 2026 World Cup qualifiers next month, he was quizzed on his thoughts regarding the AFCON tournament set to take place in Morocco later this year.
The German tactician believes the Atlas Lions are firm favourites to secure their second continental title on home soil.
"I think in Morocco it will be very difficult to beat Morocco already, which is number one in Africa, actually. They are the favourites," Rohr told Flashscore.
"Then you have other strong contenders for the top spot, like Nigeria, Tunisia, and Senegal. You always see them competing against South Africa.
"It would be quite interesting to see the same teams facing off again, just like in the World Cup qualifiers, but we will see how it unfolds."
Rohr also acknowledged the increasing competitiveness in African football, insisting that there are no more "small teams" in the competition.
"The expectation was to have a group with difficult teams, difficult to beat, because all the teams that have qualified showed us in the qualifiers that everybody can play good football and there are no more small teams in Africa now," he added.
"You saw what happened at the last AFCON in Cote d'Ivoire, that small teams were beating big teams, so it will be the same in Morocco.
"We are a small team, but we are ambitious. We want to come out of the group. All the teams you can find in the last AFCON were difficult to beat. Yes, the tournament in Cote d'Ivoire was massive."
Read: Mayambela 'provocative' celebrations land him in hot water