Africa Cup of Nations

The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is the main international football competition in Africa. The inaugural tournament was held in 1957. Over time, the competition grew to 24 teams, with a qualifying tournament being introduced in 1962. Throughout the tournament’s history, three different trophies were awarded. Each of the three-time winners (Ghana, Cameroon, and Egypt) earned the right to keep their trophies indefinitely.

Winners and runners-up

All the hosts, winners and runners-up through the years of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Season	Host	Winner	Runner-up
2025	Morocco
2023	Ivory Coast	Ivory Coast	Nigeria
2021	Cameroon	Senegal	Egypt
2019	Egypt	Algeria	Senegal
2017	Gabon	Cameroon	Egypt
2015	Guinea	Ivory Coast	Ghana
2013	South Africa	Nigeria	Burkina Faso
2012	Guinea, Gabon	Zambia	Ivory Coast
2010	Angola	Egypt	Ghana
2008	Ghana	Egypt	Cameroon
2006	Egypt	Egypt	Ivory Coast
2004	Tunisia	Tunisia	Morocco
2002	Mali	Cameroon	Senegal
2000	Ghana, Nigeria	Cameroon	Nigeria
1998	Burkina Faso	Egypt	South Africa
1996	South Africa	South Africa	Tunisia
1992	Senegal	Ivory Coast	Ghana
1990	Algeria	Algeria	Nigeria
1984	Ivory Coast	Cameroon	Nigeria
1982	Libya	Ghana	Libya
1980	Nigeria	Nigeria	Algeria
1976	Ethiopia	Morocco	Guinea
1974	Egypt	Zaire	Zambia
1972	Cameroon	Congo	Mali
1970	Sudan	Sudan	Ghana
1968	Ethiopia	Congo-Kinshasa	Ghana
1965	Tunisia	Ghana	Sudan
1963	Ghana	Ghana	Sudan
1962	Ethiopia	Ethiopia	United Arab Republic
1959	United Arab Republic	United Arab Republic	Sudan
1957	Sudan	Egypt	Ethiopia

* From 2013, the tournament switched to being held in odd-numbered years to avoid running the same year as the FIFA World Cup.

History

Foundation and early history

Following the formation of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 1957, the founding nations (Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, and South Africa) organized the inaugural tournament the same year. However, South Africa was disqualified due to its apartheid policy, which meant that the tournament consisted of just two matches. Egypt won the first trophy after defeating hosts Sudan 2-0 and dismantling Ethiopia 4-0 in the final.

Two years later, the same three teams competed again, with Egypt claiming another trophy. In 1962, the field was expanded to nine teams, which necessitated the inclusion of a qualification round. The final tournament consisted of holders Egypt, hosts Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tunisia. Ethiopia won its first title by defeating Tunisia and outlasting Egypt in the final, winning the game in extra time.

The Black Stars

The 1963 edition of the tournament was hosted by first-time participant Ghana, a squad that modeled its game after Spanish giants Real Madrid. This team -- also known as the Black Stars -- won the tournament after beating Sudan in the final. Two years later, they repeated as champions by recording three victories in three matches. Their mini-streak was broken by Congo-Kinshasa in 1968, at the first tournament to include eight teams instead of four.

The ‘70 saw four different nations win the tournament before Ghana claimed its third title in 1978 and was awarded the original competition trophy permanently. The 1974 edition marked the only time in the competition’s history that the final match had to be replayed due to a tie after extra time. The two involved nations -- Zaire and Gambia -- played the replay two days later, with Zaire winning 2-0.

Back and forth

The following decade was dominated by Cameroon and Algeria. From 1984 to 1988, Cameroon reached the final on three consecutive occasions, winning two titles in the process. Meanwhile, Algeria made it to the semi-finals in five out of six tournaments, though they had to wait until 1990 to claim their first title. In 1992, the tournament was expanded to include 12 participants, with teams being divided into four groups of three.

The four-group format was also used in 1994, with Nigeria winning its second title. In the finals, they defeated Zambia, a team that was still reeling from an air disaster which resulted in the deaths of 18 players and several staff members. The 1996 edition was hosted and won by South Africa, in their first tournament appearance after ending the apartheid rule. This was scheduled to be the first 16-team tournament, but Nigeria pulled out at the last minute.

In 2000, the AFCON was co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, as the original host (Zimbabwe) failed to comply with the tournament specifications. Cameroon won its third title after prevailing in a penalty shootout against Nigeria in the final, earning the second trophy in perpetuity. Two years later, Cameroon repeated as champions by defeating Senegal in another penalty shootout.

Egypt’s dominance

Following Tunisia’s first victory in 2004, Egypt made history by winning three AFCON titles in a row and fully establishing itself as the most successful nation in the history of the competition. The first of those titles came on home soil, with Egypt defeating the Ivory Coast on penalties. The other two finals were mostly dry affairs, with Egypt scoring a single goal against both Cameroon and Ghana.

After the 2012 AFCON, the tournament was moved to the odd-numbered years to prevent interference with the World Cup. As a result, the next edition of the tournament was played the very next year. In 2017, two further changes were announced: the AFCON would expand from 16 to 24 teams and it would start taking place during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer. These changes were introduced at the 2019 AFCON, which was won by Algeria.

Statistics

These are the nations with the most titles:

Table 2. Most successful teams and number of participation

Team	Titles	1st title
Egypt	7	1957
Cameroon	5	1984
Ghana	4	1963
Nigeria	3	1980
Ivory Coast	3	1992
Algeria	2	1992
DR Congo	2	1968

Tunisia, Sudan, Senegal, South Africa, Ethiopia, Morocco and Congo have in addition won one title each.

Notice that DR Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo), alternatively Congo-Kinshasa and Zaire, shouldn't be confused with Congo.

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa_Cup_of_Nations
https://archive.voice-online.co.uk/article/africa-cup-nations-history