Africa Cup of Nations

The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON; also called the African Cup of Nations) is a biennial inter-country football (soccer) tournament that is widely considered the most prestigious competition in the continent. It is contested by national teams and is organized by the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF; the governing body for international football in Africa). The competition’s format has changed over time, with the number of teams increasing from 3 in 1957 to, after several expansions, 24 in 2019. Growing participation also led to the introduction of qualifying rounds in 1968, the same year that CAF decided to hold the tournament biennially. The 2025 edition of the competition, hosted by Morocco, recorded more than 1.1 million spectators by the end of the quarterfinals, the largest attendance numbers ever for any single AFCON tournament.

AFCON 2025 highlights

• Senegal defeated Morocco 1–0 after extra time (additional playing period after the regular 90 minutes) in the final on January 18, 2026 to win its second title. The match was highly controversial, with the referee disallowing a goal scored by Senegal and later awarding Morocco a penalty during the closing minutes of regular time. Senegal coach Pape Thiaw led the team off the pitch in protest and the match was delayed by more than 15 minutes before the Senegal players returned to the field. Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy saved the penalty taken by Morocco striker Brahim Diaz and the match went to extra time, during which Senegal scored the winning goal. However, in March 2026 the CAF Appeal Board ruled that Senegal had forfeited the match by leaving the pitch, and Morocco was declared the winner.
• In the match for 3rd place on January 17, 2026 between the losing semifinalists, Nigeria beat Egypt 4–2 in a penalty shootout after neither side scored in regular time.
• In the 2025 tournament’s quarterfinals, Egypt knocked out defending champions Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal beat Mali, Nigeria defeated Algeria, and Morocco knocked out Cameroon. With the exception of Mali, all the quarterfinalists are former AFCON title winners.
• Moroccan footballer Brahim Diaz (five), Nigerian player Vicor Osimhen (four), and Egyptian star Mohamed Salah (four) are the top three leading goalscorers of the tournament ahead of the semifinals.
• The 2025 edition broke the record for most goals scored in a single AFCON tournament, with a tally of 120 goals scored as of the semifinals. The earlier record was 119 goals scored during the 2023 edition.
• Moroccan striker Brahim Diaz became the first player in AFCON history to score in each of the first five matches of any edition of the tournament. He also broke the record for most goals scored by a Moroccan player in a single tournament.
• Egypt’s Mohamed Salah became the first player to score goals against 11 different countries at AFCON tournaments, achieving this feat during his country’s quarterfinal win against Cote d’Ivoire.
• Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou has equaled the record for keeping the second-most clean sheets (not allowing the other team to score a goal in a match) in AFCON history. He is tied with Cote d’Ivoire’s Boubacar Copa at 11 clean sheets each. Egyptian shotstopper Essam El Hadary holds the record, with 14 clean sheets across AFCON tournaments.
• At 34 years and 306 days old, Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez became the oldest player to score a brace (two goals in a single match) in the history of AFCON. He broke the earlier record set by Tunisia’s Ziad Tlemcani, who was 34 years and 282 days old when he scored during the 1998 tournament.
• Senegal striker Sadio Mané surpassed Cote d’Ivoire player Kolo Toure’s record for most appearances as a starting player at AFCON (28). Mané’s 29th appearance came in the AFCON 2025 final.

History

AFCON was first held in February 1957 in Khartoum, where Egypt defeated the host nation, Sudan, in the final to win the Abdel Aziz Abdallah Salem Trophy, named after its donor, an Egyptian who was the first CAF president. That trophy was permanently awarded to Ghana in 1978 when it became the first country to win the tournament three times. The next trophy, known as the African Unity Cup, was awarded permanently to Cameroon in 2000 when that team claimed its third championship since 1978. In 2002 a new trophy called the Cup of Nations was introduced.

The competition has served as a showcase for the talents of African players. In the 1950s and ’60s the tournament’s attacking, entertaining style of play seized the imagination of African fans and attracted European talent scouts, agents, and journalists. Under the leadership of Ethiopian Ydnekachew Tessema, CAF president from 1972 until his death in 1987, the cup earned greater international prestige. Professionalism was allowed in 1980 and corporate sponsorships accepted in 1984. Among the cup’s greatest performers are Samuel Eto’o of Cameroon, who holds the record for most career goals scored in the Cup of Nations (18), and Ivorian striker Laurent Pokou, who tallied five goals in a 6–1 victory over Ethiopia in 1970.

Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.

SIGN UP

By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Britannica Quiz

Sports Quiz

Fifteen countries have won the AFCON since its inception. Egypt has won the tournament seven times—winning consecutive tournaments in 1957 and 1959 and then again in 2006, 2008, and 2010. Cameroon has won five championships. Ghana has won the cup four times. The highest scoring final games in the tournament’s history took place in 1957 (the inaugural competition in which Egypt defeated Sudan 4–0) and 1962 (the tournament’s third outing, in which Ethiopia outscored Egypt [which was known as the United Arab Republic at the time] 4–2). Cote d’Ivoire won the 2023 edition of the competition.

The 2025 edition was the second time Morocco hosted the AFCON. The mascot for the tournament is Assad, a Barbary lion inspired by the host country’s national animal. The official match ball for the tournament, named ITRI (star), was developed by the CAF and sports brand PUMA. The competition’s official anthem, Africallez, was jointly performed by Moroccan performers Jaylann and L’Artiste and Beninese diva Angélique Kidjo during the AFCON opening ceremony.

Tournament dates

The first tournament in 1957 was held in February. Subsequent editions until 2019 were often played between the months of November and February the next year, during the African dry season. This caused disruptions in the regular football club schedule, which ran from August to July the next year, with major European clubs forced to release African players midseason to participate in the continental competition. The CAF announced two major changes ahead of the 2019 edition; the number of participants was expanded to 24 teams from 16, and the tournament dates were changed to June–July, during the club football offseason. However, after the 2019 edition, the next three competitions were held during the dry season months for a variety of reasons.

The 2021 edition was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and held between January–February 2022; the 2023 edition, hosted by Cote d’Ivoire, was pushed to January–February 2024 to avoid the western African rainy season; the 2025 edition was rescheduled to be held between December 2025 and January 2026 to avoid a clash with the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which was held in June–July 2025. The 2027 AFCON, which will be jointly hosted by Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, is scheduled to be played in June–July. In December 2025 the CAF announced that the AFCON would be held once every four years and be played in even-numbered years from 2028 onward.

Explore Britannica Premium!

The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.

SUBSCRIBE

Political impact

Beyond the boundaries of the playing fields, the Africa Cup of Nations has been a conduit for the articulation of political values and ideas. Having inherited colonial institutions devoid of indigenous symbols of national identity, many independent African governments invested considerable economic and political capital into national football teams in order to elicit pride and build unity among their diverse populations. For example, with the enthusiastic support of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana won the cup in 1963 and 1965. In winning the 1996 tournament at home, South Africa’s racially mixed team seemed to symbolize football’s power to bridge the gaping social and economic inequalities left by apartheid. In contrast, the Algerian government was unable to capitalize on Algeria’s victory in the 1990 Cup of Nations, as fans celebrated the team’s triumph in Algiers by chanting their support for the opposition Islamic Salvation Front. Political tensions violently disrupted the Cup of Nations in 2010: the Togo team bus was attacked by separatist gunmen as it traveled into the Angolan exclave of Cabinda on its way to the tournament; two team officials and the bus driver were killed in the attack, and the Togolese team withdrew from the 2010 Cup of Nations, which was held with a 15-team field.

The table provides a list of Africa Cup of Nations winners.