The Africa Cup of Nations (French: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations), commonly known as the Africa Cup of Nations or Total Energy as its title sponsor, is the premier international men's football competition in Africa. It was approved by the Confederation of African Football, and was held for the first time in 1957 in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. Since 1968, it has been held every two years, with the title holders qualifying for the Confederations Cup, before it was canceled bMarch2019 and 
In 1957, only three countries participated: Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. South Africa was originally scheduled to participate, but was excluded due to the government's apartheid policies at the time. Since then the tournament has grown significantly, making it necessary to hold qualifying rounds. The final tournament has had 16 participants since 1998 (16 teams were to compete in 1996, but Nigeria withdrew, reducing the number of teams to 15, and this was repeated in 2010 with Togo), and until 2017, the format has not changed, with Sixteen teams were drawn into four groups of four teams each, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the knockout stage. On 20 July 2017, the Africa Cup of Nations was moved from January to June and expanded to include 24 teams instead of 16.
Egypt is the most successful country in the tournament's history, having won the tournament seven times (including when Egypt was known as the United Arab Republic between 1958 and 1961). Three different cups have been awarded in the tournament's history, with Ghana and Cameroon winning the first and second cups after each having won the tournament three times. The current trophy was first awarded in 2002 and has been won indefinitely by Egypt after winning its third consecutive title in 2010.
According to the Confederation of African Football regulations, the winning team is awarded thirty gold medals, the runner-up team is awarded thirty silver medals and the third-placed team is awarded thirty bronze medals. As for the cup, the original cup is presented to the champion team’s association, then it is returned to the Confederation of African Football two months before the start of the next tournament, and the winning team is presented with a replica instead, according to the size of the original cup.
In 2013, the format of the tournament changed to being held in odd years so as not to conflict with the FIFA World Cup. The current title holder is the Ivory Coast team, after defeating the Nigerian team 2-1 in the final of the 2023 edition.
the date
Beginnings
The origins of the Africa Cup of Nations go 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 tournament, and in February 1957, the first African Cup of Nations was held in Khartoum, Sudan. There were no qualifiers for this tournament, as the finals consisted of the four founding countries of the African Confederation (Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and South Africa). South Africa's insistence on selecting only white players in its squad due to its apartheid policy led to its exclusion, and as a result Ethiopia qualified directly for the final. Hence, only two matches were played, as Egypt was crowned the first continental champion after defeating its host Sudan in the semi-finals and Ethiopia in the final match. Two years later, Egypt hosted the second Africa Cup of Nations in Cairo with the same three teams participating. Egypt, the host country and defending champion, won again after defeating Sudan in the final match. In the 1962 edition held in Addis Ababa, for the first time there were qualifying rounds to determine the four teams that would play for the title. The host country, Ethiopia, and the defending champion, Egypt, received automatic places, and Nigeria and Tunisia joined the finals. Egypt appeared for the third time in a row, but the Ethiopian team emerged victorious, first defeating Tunisia and then defeating Egypt after extra time in the final match.
Ghanaian domination
In the 1963 edition, Ghana made its first appearance when it hosted the event, winning the title after defeating Sudan in the final. They repeated this when they became champions two years later in the 1965 edition in Tunisia (Egypt were equalized by winning twice) with a squad containing only players from the 1963 team. In 1965, the Confederation of African Football introduced a rule limiting the number of foreign players in each team to two. The rule continued until the 1982 edition.
The final tournament format of the 1968 competition was expanded to include eight of the 22 teams participating in the qualifying rounds. The qualifying teams were divided into two groups of four to play single-round matches, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semi-finals, a system that remained in use for the finals until the 1992 edition. The Democratic Republic of the Congo won its first title, defeating Ghana in the final. Starting with the 1968 tournament, the competition was regularly held every two years in even years; This ended with the 2012 edition, which was followed by a tournament in 2013, and subsequent editions in each odd year. Ivory Coast striker Laurent Bocot achieved the top scorer title for two consecutive editions, scoring six goals in the 1968 edition and eight goals in the 1970 edition, and his total of 14 goals remained the all-time record until 2008. The tournament was broadcast for the first time during the 1970 edition in Sudan, where the host country lifted the cup after defeating Ghana, which was playing its fourth final in a row.
Multiple heroes
Six different countries won the titles from 1970 to 1980: Sudan, Congo, Zaire, Morocco, Ghana and Nigeria. Zaire's second title came in the 1974 edition (they won their first title as the Democratic Republic of the Congo) after facing Zambia in the final. For the only time so far in the history of the competition, the match had to be replayed as the first match between the two teams ended in a 2–2 draw after extra time. The final was reorganized two days later with Zaire winning 2–0. Striker Mulamba Ndiaye scored all four of Zaire's goals in those two matches: he was also the tournament's top scorer with nine goals, setting an unrivaled single-tournament record. Three months ago, Zaire became the first sub-Saharan African country to qualify for the World Cup. Morocco won its first title in the 1976 edition, which was held in Ethiopia, and Ghana won its third championship in 1978, becoming the first country to win three titles.
Just around the corner.
Cameroonian hegemony
Between 1980 and 1990, Cameroon managed to reach the final of the African Cup of Nations three times in a row, winning the competition twice in 1984 and 1988 and losing once on penalties to Egypt in the 1986 edition. The other dominant team during this period was Algeria, along with their strong appearance in 1982 and 1986 World Cups, the North African nation lost in the final against hosts Nigeria in the 1980 tournament allowing Nigeria to capture their first tournament. After the 1980 edition, Algeria reached the semi-finals of every edition except 1986 until eventually winning the tournament in 1990. Ghana's fourth title came in the 1982 edition, where it beat host country Libya in the final. The match ended in a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes and Ghana won. Penalty shootout.
In 1990, the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations was the 17th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations. Hosted by Algeria. Just like in 1988, the eight teams were divided into two groups of four. Algeria won its first tournament after defeating Nigeria in the final 1–0. Nigeria lost again, making its third final appearance in four tournaments, this time losing to tournament host Algeria. The 1992 Africa Cup of Nations increased the number of participants in the tournament to 12. Teams were divided into four groups of three, with the top two teams from each group qualifying to the quarter-finals. Ghanaian midfielder Abedi Pele, who scored three goals, was named the tournament's best player after his contributions helped Ghana reach the final. However, he was suspended for that match and Ghana lost to Ivory Coast on penalties that saw 11 shots per team decide the winner. Ivory Coast set a competition record by holding each of their opponents scoreless in the six matches of the final tournament.
The 12-team group format was used again two years later in the 1994 edition, as hosts Tunisia were eliminated in the first round. Nigeria, which had just qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time in its history, beat Zambia in the final, which had suffered disaster a year earlier when most of its national team died in a plane crash while traveling to play a 1994 World Cup qualifying match. Nigerian striker Rashidi Yaqini, who He led the tournament in 1992 with four goals, and repeated the top scorer title with five goals.
Back to South Africa
South Africa hosted the 20th edition of the competition in 1996, marking its first ever appearance after a decades-long ban was lifted with the end of apartheid in the country, which was followed by a failed attempt to qualify in 1994. Finalists for the 1996 edition were expanded to 16 teams, Divided into four groups. However, the actual number of teams that participated in the final was only 15, as Nigeria withdrew from the tournament at the last minute for political reasons. South Africa won their first title on home soil after defeating Tunisia in the final. The South Africans reached the final again two years later in the 1998 edition in Burkina Faso, but were unable to defend their title, losing to Egypt, who won the fourth cup.
The first Tunisian title and the Egyptian treble
The 2000 edition was jointly hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, who replaced the originally appointed host Zimbabwe. After a 2–2 draw after extra time in the final, Cameroon beat Nigeria on penalties. In the 2002 edition, the Cameroonian Lions won the second consecutive title for the first time in the tournament since Ghana achieved it in the 1960s, and after Egypt had done so before in 1957 and 1959.
Two years later in Tunisia, where the host team won its first title, Tunisia advanced unbeaten from the group stage, defeating Rwanda 2–1 in the opening match of the tournament before winning the second match against the Democratic Republic of the Congo 3–0, drawing with Guinea 1–1, and then beating Senegal. 1–0 in the quarter-finals thanks to a goal by Johar El Manari and beating Nigeria on penalties 5–3 in the semi-finals after a 1–1 draw. Against Morocco in the final, two goals from the feet of Franciludo Santos and Ziad Jaziri gave Tunisia a 1–2 victory, meaning that Tunisia won the Africa Cup of Nations title for the first time in its history.
The 2006 tournament was also won by host Egypt, which achieved a record five times winning the title. Before the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations finals, several European clubs called for a rethink of the tournament schedule. Since it takes place during the European season, the players involved will miss many matches with their clubs. In January 2008, Swiss FIFA President Joseph Blatter announced that he wanted the tournament to be held in either June or July by 2016, to fit the international calendar, although this may prevent several countries in Central and West Africa from hosting the competition (for For these months it is during the rainy season). Ghana hosted the 2008 edition, which saw Egypt retain the title, winning a record sixth tournament by defeating Cameroon 1–0 in the final. Egypt set a new record in the 2010 edition (which Angola hosted) by winning its third consecutive title in an unprecedented achievement at the African level after defeating Ghana 1-0 in the final, retaining the Gold Cup indefinitely, and expanding its record to seven continental titles ( Including when Egypt was known as the United Arab Republic between 1958 and 1961).
Egypt became the first African country to win three consecutive cups and joined Mexico, Argentina and Iran who also won the Continental Cup three times in a row. On January 31, 2010, Egypt set a new record in Africa, going undefeated in 19 consecutive matches in the African Cup of Nations,