Uganda’s Afcon 2025 campaign begins not with a drumroll, but with a quiet sense of purpose.
By the time Paul Put’s squad touched down in Casablanca, Morocco on Sunday for their eleven-day camp, the noise around selection had eased into something more telling: a team beginning to grow into its own skin.
Put has often spoken about evolution rather than revolution. His final list reflects that thinking.
Well fused
There is experience where experience is needed, youth where energy matters, and a sprinkling of footballers whose journeys have stretched across continents yet remain anchored to a Ugandan identity that is becoming broader and more modern with each passing window.
The headline names, if any, are not the story here. What matters is the balance.
FC Steaua Bucure?ti’s Al Hassan Baba brings a cultured midfield passing range that Uganda have often lacked in tournaments of this magnitude.
Uche Mubiru Ikpeazu arrives with the physical presence to occupy defenders, but also the humility of a man who knows this is a chance to reset his international career – alongside Melvyn Lorenzen.
And then there is Masaka Sunshine’s James Bogere, barely out of the U-17 World Cup where his poise and killer instinct in front of goal was there for all to see, walking into an Afcon with the wide-eyed fearlessness of youth.
Uganda rarely fast-track teenagers. Put has done so because he believes Bogere has something the group needs: verticality and courage.
Been there, done it
Around them stand the guardians of the shirt. Denis Onyango, still a standard-setter at 40.
Khalid Aucho, the heartbeat of the midfield – although it’s now more of the heart than the will of the body, and Timothy Awany – a bit in and out of the squad but calm and consistent whenever called upon.
Add the European-bred contingent – Toby Sibbick, Elio Capradossi and Jordan Obita – that has slowly knitted itself into the Cranes fabric, and you get a squad that seems more complete than the one that started this qualifying journey.
The country’s best player based at home, Allan Okello of Vipers, leads the Uganda Premier League legion of eight players coming from the Venoms, SC Villa and KCCA.
The one silent omission on the contingent is Put’s coaching staff in the wake of his hitherto assistant Sam Ssimbwa’s contract not being renewed.
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Uganda know what awaits. Tunisia’s relentlessness. Tanzania’s familiarity. Nigeria’s depth. Nothing in Group C is generous. Put’s men do not travel as favourites, or even dark horses.
But they travel knowing that tournament football rewards clarity, discipline and emotional control.
The 4-0 lesson from Morocco still stings, yet it offers a useful reference point. The gap to Africa’s elite is real, but not immovable.
The two trial matches in Morocco will not shape headlines, but they will shape roles.
Who partners Aucho. Who starts wide left. Whether Ikpeazu leads the line or offers impact from the bench. Whether Bogere is trusted beyond cameo minutes – if he gets any. These are the micro-battles that define tournament readiness.
Uganda walk into Afcon without pomp. But they walk in with a plan, with fresher legs, with a broader idea of who they can be.
And for a team returning to Africa’s biggest stage, that may be the strongest starting point of all.
Cranes final squad
Goalkeepers: Salim Omar Magoola – Richards Bay (South Africa), Denis Onyango – Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa), Nafian Alionzi – Defence Forces FC (Ethiopia), Charles Lukwago – KCCA (Uganda).
Defenders: Toby Sibbick – Burton Albion (England), Elio Caprodossi – FC Universitatea Cluj (Romania), Jordan Obita – Hibernian (Scotland), Rogers Torach – Vipers SC (Uganda), Abdu Azizi Kayondo – FC Slovan Liberec (Czech Republic), Isaac Muleme – Viktoria Žižkov (Czech Republic), Timothy Awany – FC Ashdod (Israel), David Owori – SC Villa (Uganda), Hilary Mukundane – Vipers SC (Uganda).
Midfielders: Kenneth Semakula – Al-Adalah FC (Saudi Arabia), Khalid Aucho – Singida Black Stars SC (Tanzania), Ronald Ssekiganda – APR FC (Rwanda), Bobosi Byaruhanga – Oakland Roots SC (USA), Alhassan Baba – FCSB (Romania).
Forwards: Allan Okello – Vipers SC (Uganda), Melvyn Lorenzen – Muangthong United (Thailand), Travis Mutyaba – CS Sfaxien (Tunisia), Denis Omedi – APR (Rwanda), Rogers Mato – FK Vardar (North Macedonia), Reagan Mpande – SC Villa (Uganda), Jude Ssemugabi – Jamus FC (South Sudan), Uchechukwu Ikpeazu – St Johnstone (Scotland), Steven Mukwala – Simba SC (Tanzania), James Bogere – Masaka Sunshine (Uganda), Ivan Ahimbisibwe – KCCA (Uganda), Shafik Nana Kwikiriza – KCCA (Uganda).
Head coach: Paul Put