(Redirected from African Nations Cup)
The 'African Cup of Nations', also referred to as the 'African Nations Cup' (ANC) is the main international
football competition in
Africa. It is sanctioned by the
Confederation of African Football (CAF), and was first held in 1957. Since 1968, it has been held every two years in even numbered years.
In 1957 there were only three participating nations:
Egypt,
Sudan and
Ethiopia.
South Africa was to compete, but was disqualified due to the
apartheid policies of the government then in power. Since then, the field has grown to include almost every African nation, making it necessary to hold a qualifying tournament. The number of participants in the final tournament reached 16 in 1998 (16 teams were to compete in 1996 but
Nigeria withdrew, reducing the field to 15), and since then, the format has been unchanged, with the sixteen teams being drawn into four groups of four teams each, with the top two teams of each group advancing to a "knock-out" stage.
The nation with the most cup wins is Egypt, with five, followed by
Ghana and
Cameroon, who have won four titles each. Three different trophies have been awarded during the tournament's history, with
Ghana and
Cameroon winning the first two versions to keep after each of them won a tournament three times. The current trophy was first awarded in 2002.
History
1950s-60s: Early growth of the ANC competition
The origins of the African Nations Cup date back to June 1956, when the creation of the Confederation of African Football was proposed during the third
FIFA congress in
Lisbon. There were immediate plans for a continental nations tournament to be held, and in February 1957, the
first African Cup of Nations took place in
Khartoum,
Sudan. There was no qualification for the this tournament, the field being made up of the four founding nations of CAF (Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Africa). South Africa's refusal to send a
multi-racial squad to the competition led to its disqualification and handed Ethiopia a bye straight to the final.
[1]
As a result, only two matches were played, with Egypt being crowned as the first continental champion after defeating hosts Sudan in the semifinal and Ethiopia in the final. Two years later, Egypt hosted the second ANC in
Cairo with the participation of these same three teams. Host and defending champions Egypt repeated as cup winners, this time downing Sudan.
The field grew to include nine teams for the
third ANC in 1962 in
Addis Abeba, and for the first time there was a qualification round to determine which four teams would play for the title. Host Ethiopia and reigning champion Egypt received automatic berths, and were joined in the final four by
Nigeria and
Tunisia. Egypt made its third consecutive final appearance, but it was Ethiopia that emerged as victors, after first beating Tunisia and then downing Egypt in
extra time.
In 1963,
Ghana made its first appearance as it hosted the event, and won the title after beating Sudan in the final. They repeated as champions two years later in
Tunisia – equalling Egypt as two-time winners – with a squad that included only two returning members from the 1963 team.
[2]
The
1968 competition's final tournament format expanded to include eight of the 22 teams entered in the preliminary rounds. The qualifying teams were distributed in two groups of four to play single
round-robin tournaments, with the top two teams of each group advancing to semifinals, a system that remained in use for the finals until 1992. The
Democratic Republic of Congo won its first title, beating Ghana in the final. Starting with the 1968 tournament, the competition has been regularly held every two years in even numbered years.
Cote d'Ivoire forward
Laurent Pokou led the 1968 and 1970 tournaments in scoring, with six and eight goals respectively, and his total of 14 goals remains the all-time record for the event. Play was covered for television for the first time during the
1970 tournament in Sudan,
2 as the hosts lifted the trophy after defeating Ghana – who were playing their fourth consecutive final.
1970s: A decade of champions
Six different nations won titles from 1970 to 1980: Sudan,
Congo-Brazzaville,
Congo DR national football team (Zaire),
Morocco, Ghana, and Nigeria. Zaire's second title in the
1974 edition (they won their first as the Democratic Republic of Congo) came after facing
Zambia in the final. For the first and only time to date in the history of the competition, the match had to be replayed as the first contest between the two sides ended in a 2-2 draw after extra time. The final was re-staged two days later with Zaire winning 2-0. Forward
Mulamba Ndaye scored all four of Zaire's goals in these two matches: he was also the top scorer of the tournament with nine goals, setting a single-tournament record that so far remains unequalled. Three months earlier, Zaire had become the first black African nation to qualify to the
FIFA World Cup. Morocco won their first title in the 1976 ANC held in Ethiopia and Ghana took its third championship in 1978, becoming the first nation to win three titles. In 1980,
Nigeria hosted the event and beat
Algeria to capture its first honours.
1980s: Cameroonian and Nigerian domination
Ghana's fourth continental title came in the
1982 cup tournament; they beat Algeria in the semifinals in extra time, and faced host
Libya in the final. The match ended in a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes and Ghana won the
penalty shootout to become champions. Cameroon won their first title two years later by beating Nigeria and in the
1986 cup they faced Egypt – absent from the final since 1962 – with Egypt winning the title on penalty kicks. Cameroon reached its third consecutive final in the
1988 tournament and won their second championship by repeating their 1984 victory over Nigeria. In 1990, Nigeria lost once again as they made their third final appearance in four tournaments, this time falling to Algeria.
1990s: The arrival of South Africa
The
1992 Cup of Nations expanded the number of final tournament participants to 12; the teams were divided into four groups of three, with the top two teams of each group advancing to quarterfinals.
Ghanaian midfielder Abedi "Pelé" Ayew, who scored three goals, was named the best player of the tournament after his contributions helped Ghana reach the final; he was, however, suspended for that match and Ghana lost to Cote d'Ivoire in a penalty shootout that saw each side make 11 attempts to determine the winner. Cote d'Ivoire set a record for the competition by holding each of their opponents scoreless in the six matches of the final tournament.
The 12-team, three-group format was used again two years later, where hosts
Tunisia were humiliated by their first round elimination.
Nigeria, who had just qualified to the World Cup for the first time in their history, won
the tournament, beating
Zambia, who a year before had been struck by disaster when most of their national squad died in a
plane crash while traveling to play a
1994 World Cup qualification match. Nigerian forward
Rashidi Yekini, who had led the 1992 tournament with four goals, repeated as the top scorer with five goals.
South Africa hosted the
20th ANC competition in 1996, marking their first ever appearance after a decades long ban was lifted with the end of apartheid in the country and a failed attempt to qualify in 1994. The number of final round participants in 1996 was expanded to the current 16, split into four groups. However, the actual number of teams playing in the final was only 15 as Nigeria withdrew from the tournament at the final moment over security concerns.
[3] The ''
Bafana Bafana'' won their first title on home soil, defeating Tunisia in the final. South African captain
Neil Tovey became the first white player to raise the trophy.
[4]
The South Africans would reach the final again
two years later in
Burkina Faso, but were unable to defend their title, losing to Egypt who claimed their fourth cup.
The
2000 edition was hosted jointly by
Ghana and
Nigeria, who replaced the originally designated host
Zimbabwe. Following a 2-2 draw after extra time in the final, Cameroon defeated Nigeria on penalty kicks. In 2002, the ''
Indomitable Lions'' became the first nation to win consecutive titles since Ghana had done it in the 1960s decade. Again via penalty kicks, the Cameroonians beat first-time finalists
Senegal, who also debuted in the
World Cup later that year. Both finalists were eliminated in quarter finals
two years later in
Tunisia, where the hosts won their first ever title, beating Morocco 2-1 in the final. The
2006 tournament was also won by the hosts,
Egypt, who reached a continental-record fifth title. The
2008 tournament will be hosted by
Ghana.
Format
Qualification
Since the 1962 tournament, qualification matches have been held to determine the participants for the finals. From 1962 to 1990 the qualification matches were generally two-legged knockout ties, with the number of rounds depending upon the number of participants. From 1994 onwards teams attempting to qualify have been divided into groups, with teams playing each other on a
round robin basis. Until 2006 the title holders and tournament hosts qualified for the finals automatically; from 2008 only the hosts qualify automatically. The nature of the qualification groups varies from tournament to tournament. As of the 2008 tournament, qualification consists of eleven groups of four teams and one group of three teams. Each group winner qualifies, along with the three runners-up with the best records.
Trophy
The current African Cup of Nations trophy.
Throughout the history of the Nations Cup, three different trophies have been awarded to the winners of the competition. The first trophy, made of silver, was the '"Abdelaziz Abdallah Salem Trophy"', which was named after the first CAF president, the
Egyptian Abdelaziz Abdallah Salem. As the first winner of three Nations Cup tournaments,
Ghana obtained the right to permanently hold the trophy in 1978.
[5]
The second trophy was awarded from 1980 to 2000, and it was named '"Trophy of African Unity"'
[6] or '"African Unity Cup"'.
5 It was given by the Supreme Council for Sports in Africa to the CAF prior to the 1980 tournament and it was a cylindrical piece with the
Olympic rings over a map of the continent engraved on it. It sat on a squared base and had stylized triangular handles.
Cameroon won the Unity Cup indefinitely after they became three-time champions in 2000.
In 2001, the third trophy was revealed, a gold-plated cup designed and made in
Italy. Cameroon, permanent holders of the previous trophy, were the first nation to be awarded the new trophy after they won the 2002 edition.
Results
(1) ''In 1957, was disqualified from the tournament due to
Apartheid.''
(2) ''In 1959, the three teams played each other once. In the last game of the tournament, Egypt's 2-1 victory over Sudan made Egypt champions''
(3) ''There was no official final match in 1976, as the tournament was decided in a final group contested by the last four teams.''
(4) ''In 1978, third place was awarded to Nigeria 2-0 after Tunisia walked off with the third-place match tied 1-1 in the 42nd minute.''
(5) ''No extra time was played.''
★ 'Key:'
★
★ aet – ''after
extra time''
★
★ ps – ''after
penalty shootout''
Statistics
Most championships
Map of the number of championships in African Cup of Nations
| Wins | Nation | Year(s) |
|---|
| 5 times | | 1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006 |
| 4 times | | 1984, 1988, 2000, 2002 |
| 4 times | | 1963, 1965, 1978, 1982 |
| 2 times | | 1968, 1974 |
| 2 times | | 1980, 1994 |
| 1 time | | 1962 |
| 1 time | | 1972 |
| 1 time | | 1992 |
| 1 time | | 1990 |
| 1 time | | 1976 |
| 1 time | | 1996 |
| 1 time | | 1970 |
| 1 time | | 2004 |
Most tournaments hosted
| Hosts | Nation | Year(s) |
|---|
| 4 times | | 1959, 1974, 1986, 2006 |
| 4 times | | 1963, 1978, 2000, 2008
★ |
| 3 times | | 1962, 1968, 1976 |
| 3 times | | 1965, 1994, 2004 |
| 2 times | | 1982, 2014
★ |
| 2 times | | 1980, 2000 |
| 2 times | | 1957, 1970 |
| 1 time | | 1990 |
| 1 time | | 1998 |
| 1 time | | 1972 |
| 1 time | | 1990 |
| 1 time | | 2002 |
| 1 time | | 1988 |
| 1 time | | 1992 |
| 1 time | | 1996 |
| 1 time | | 2010
★ |
| 1 time | | 2012
★ |
| 1 time | | 2012
★ |
★
★ Yet to take place.
★ ^ Co-host.
Finals appearances
| Appearances | Nation |
|---|
| '7' | |
| '6' | |
| '5' | |
| '3' | |
| '2' | (twice as ) |
| '1' | |
Final four appearances
| Appearances | Nation |
|---|
| '12' | |
| '8' | |
| '7' | |
| '6' | |
| '5' | |
| '4' | (twice as ) |
| '3' | |
| '2' | |
| '1' | |
Overall top goalscorers
| Goals | Scorers |
|---|
| 14 | Laurent Pokou |
| 13 | Rashidi Yekini |
| 12 | Hassan El-Shazly |
| 11 | Patrick Mboma, Samuel Eto'o, Hossam Hassan |
| 10 | Mengistu Worku, Joel Tiéhi, Mulamba Ndaye, Kalusha Bwalya |
| 9 | Abdoulaye Traoré |
| 8 | Francileudo Santos, Wilberforce Kwadwo Mfum |
| 7 | Ali Abugresha, Taher Abouzaid, Roger Milla, Benni McCarthy, Jay-Jay Okocha |
See also
★
List of football (soccer) competitions
References
1.
African Nations Cup - How it all began news.bbc.co.uk
2.
The early years news.bbc.co.uk
3.
African success breeds FIFA World Cup glory FIFAworldcup.com
4.
African Cup of Nations: 1980-2002 news.bbc.co.uk
5.
Nations Cup trophy revealed news.bbc.co.uk
6.
The Great Adventure of African Football FIFA.com
Further reading
★
The Great Adventure of African Football (
FIFA)
★
History of African Nations cup since 1957 (Egypt State Information Service)
External links
★
Confédération Africaine de Football
★
Coverage for the rec.sport.soccer.statistics foundation
★
Historical Records from BBC Sport
★
Ghana CAN 2008 - African Cup of Nations News
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
