African Cup of Nations is a key competition between football teams on the continent. They have been held under the auspices of the African Confederation of Football since 1957. In the first tournaments, very few teams participated, now almost all the states of the African continent. Since 1968, the tournament has become regular and takes place every two years.
Tournament History
The African Cup of Nations was first held in the capital of Sudan, Khartoum. Only three teams took part in that tournament, in addition to the hosts, these were Ethiopians and Egyptians. The latter became the winners, defeating Ethiopia in the final with a score of 4: 0. It is noteworthy that striker El Diba scored all the goals in the match.
Interestingly, initially the South African national team was to participate in the first African Nations Cup. But the federation of this country agreed to send a team consisting only of black players or only white players. At the same time, the continental federation insisted on a mixed team, as a result, South Africa completely abandoned the trip to the cup.
Since 1968, the number of participants in the African Nations Cup has increased significantly. 18 teams were allowed to the tournament. Then the first qualifying tournament took place.
Competition winners
Throughout its history, this tournament has been held 31 times. At the moment, the triumph is the team of Egypt, which owns 7 titles. The last time Egypt won the African Cup of Nations in 2010 was when it defeated the Ghana national team in a tough fight. Gedo scored the only goal 5 minutes before the end of regular time.
Cameroon takes the second place in the list of the most titled African national teams, having won this title five times, four cups against the Ghana national team, three from Nigeria, two each from Côte d'Ivoire and DR Congo, one each from Zambia, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Ethiopia, South Africa, Morocco and the Republic of the Congo.
Attention is also drawn to the statistics of the scorers of the final tournaments of the African Cup of Nations. There is the absolute leader Cameroonian Samuel Eto´O on his account 18 goals. He ended his career several years ago. In second place, the Ivorian Laurent Poku, who played in the 60-70s, he scored 14 goals. The third line is in the Nigerian Rashidi Yekini, in the 80-90s he scored 13 goals in the Africa Cup.
Reigning champion
The results of the African Cup of Nations were last held in 2017. The tournament was held in Gabon, 16 teams participated in the final stage, divided into 4 groups.
The national team of Gabon never had enough stars from the sky, but at the home championship did not let anyone beat themselves. True, and never won a victory. Having played all three matches in a draw, the Gabonians took third place in Group A, remaining overboard the playoffs.
Of the group stage surprises, it is worth highlighting the fiasco of the Ivory Coast national team, who arrived in the rank of the current champion. In group C, the Ivorians played a draw with Togo and DR Congo, lost to Morocco, took third place.
At the 1/4 final stage, the most intense was the confrontation between Cameroon and Senegal. Neither the main nor the extra time revealed the winner, and no one succeeded in scoring a goal - 0-0. In the penalty shootout, the players were accurate until the fifth hit. Cameroonian Vincent Abubacar was accurate, and Senegalese Sadio Mane missed.
In the semifinals, Cameroon already confidently dealt with the Ghana national team, winning 2-0. But in the second confrontation, it came to a penalty shootout again. Egypt and Burkina Faso in the main time tied 1: 1. When it came to a penalty, both missed. As a result, Egypt defeated 4: 3.
The final of the Nations Cup was initially formed in favor of the Egyptians. At 22 minutes, Mohammed el-Nenny opened an account, which lasted up to 60 minutes, until Nicolas N´Kulu restored his balance. And at 89 minutes, Vincent Abubacar scored a decisive goal, providing Cameroon with the fifth title in history.
2019 Cup
In 2019, the next African Cup of Nations will take place. The qualifying tournament started in March 2017. In total 51 teams take part in it.
At the preliminary stage, the winner was determined in a two-match confrontation. Madagascar was stronger than Sao Tome and Principe, the Comoros defeated Mauritius, and South Sudan defeated Djibouti.
At the group stage, the teams are divided into 12 groups, each team has 4 teams. Including the Cameroon team, which has already won a ticket to the tournament. Winners and three national teams from among the runners-up will go to the final part.
The cup itself will be held in Cameroon in June-July 2019.