The Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON), also known as the African Nations Cup, while for French its Coupe d’Afrique des Nations; and is the main international association football competition in Africa. Approved by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), AfCON was first held in 1957 and since 1968, it has been held every two years. The title holders at the time of a FIFA Confederations Cup qualify for that competition.
By 1957
there were only three participating nations: Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. Whereas
South Africa was originally scheduled to compete, but was disqualified due to
the apartheid policies of the government then in power. Since then, the
tournament has grown greatly, making it necessary to hold a qualifying
tournament.
Also,
the number of participants in the final tournament reached 16 in 1998 who
competed in 1996 although Nigeria withdrew, reducing the field to 15, and ever
since, the format has been unchanged, with the sixteen teams being drawn into
four groups of four teams each, the top two teams of each group are expected to
advance to a “knock-out” stage. Egypt is the most successful nation in the
cup’s history, winning the tournament a record seven times, including when
Egypt was known as the United Arab Republic between 1958 and 1971. Followed by
Ghana and Cameroon each won four titles respectively. Equally, 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 the
tournament three times. The current trophy was first awarded in 2002 and with
Egypt winning it indefinitely after winning their unprecedented third
consecutive title in 2010.1950s–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 this tournament, the field
being made up of the four founding nations of CAF (Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, and
South Africa). South Africa’s insistence on selecting only Caucasian players
for their squad due to that nation’s apartheid policy led to its
disqualification, and as a consequence Ethiopia were handed a bye straight to
the final. Hence, only two matches were played, with Egypt being crowned as the
first continental champion after defeating hosts Sudan in the semi-final and
Ethiopia in the final. Two years later, Egypt hosted the second ANC in Cairo
with the participation of the 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 Ababa, 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.1960s: Ghanaian domination
In 1963,
Ghana made its first appearance as it hosted the event, and won the title after
beating Sudan in the final. They repeated that as they became champions two
years later in Tunisia—equaling Egypt as two-time winners—with a squad that
included only two returning members from the 1963 team.
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 semi-finals, a system that remained in use for the
finals until 1992.
However,
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. Côte 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 remained the all-time record until
2008. Play was covered for television for the first time during the 1970
tournament in Sudan, 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,
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 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 remains unmatched. 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: Nigerian domination
In 1980,
the then Green Eagles which, to date, remains in our collective fond memory as
the last team we can proudly call a truly national side with the right sense of
patriotism and discipline, went into the National Stadium, Lagos with all zeal
and determination, played their hearts out and grabbed the cup; thereby
momentarily heightening Nigeria’s glory and respect in continental football but
that has remained the last of such glory. And what do we now expect, even as
the Super Eagles as we call today, have started the AFCON outing on a shaky
note. In fact, by the time you are reading this piece, it is hoped that the
Super Eagles would not have embarked on a sober flight back home midway into
the competition.
Ghana’s
fourth continental title came in the 1982 cup tournament; they beat Algeria in
the semi-finals 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 return 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
quarter-finals. 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 Côte d’Ivoire in a penalty shootout that saw each side make 11 attempts to
determine the winner. Côte 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 ACN competition in 1996, marking their first ever
appearance after a decade 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 for political reasons.[5]
Bafana Bafana won their first title on home soil, defeating Tunisia in the
final.
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.2000s: Egypt’s unprecedented Treble
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, Cameroon’s Indomitable
Lions made the second consecutive titles since Ghana had done it in the 1960s
and after Egypt had done it before in 1957 and 1959. 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 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 was hosted by
Ghana, and saw Egypt retain the trophy, winning their record-extending sixth
tournament by defeating Cameroon 1–0 in the final.[7] Egypt set a new record in
the 2010 tournament that was hosted by Angola by winning their third
consecutive title in an unprecedented achievement on the African level after
defeating Ghana 1–0 in the final, retaining the gold-plated cup indefinitely
and extending their record to 7 continental titles (including when Egypt was
known as the United Arab Republic between 1958 and 1971).
On 31
January 2010, Egypt set a new African record, not being defeated for 19
consecutive Cup of Nations matches, since a 2–1 loss against Algeria in Tunisia
in 2004,[citation needed] and a record 9 consecutive win streak.[citation
needed] Egypt also set another record on that day, where it became the first
African nation to win three consecutive cups joining Mexico, Argentina, and
Iran who won their continent cup 3 times in a row. Future
Ahead of
the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations several European clubs called for a rethink of
the tournament’s schedule. As it takes place during the European season, players
who are involved miss several matches for their clubs.
In
January 2008, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced that he wanted the
tournament to be held in either June or July by 2016, to fit in the
international calendar, although this would preclude many countries in central
and West Africa from hosting the competition.
In May
2010, it was announced that the tournament would be moved to odd-numbered years
from 2013. This will mean the tournament will not take place in the same year
as the World Cup. It also means there will be two tournaments within twelve
months in January 2012[11] (co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea) and
January 2013 (hosted by South Africa).
On 29
January 2011, Morocco won the bid to host the 2015 edition and Libya won the
right to host the 2013 tournament. But due to the 2011 Libyan civil war, Libya
and South Africa traded years with South Africa hosting in 2013 and Libya
hosting in 2017.
Bayo Banji/LS
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