2000 African Cup of Nations

2000 African Cup of Nations
	African Cup of Nations 2000 official logo
Tournament details
Host countries	Ghana; Nigeria
Dates	22 January – 13 February
Teams	16
Venue(s)	4 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Cameroon (3rd title)
Runners-up	Nigeria
Third place	South Africa
Fourth place	Tunisia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	32
Goals scored	73 (2.28 per match)
Attendance	677,500 (21,172 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Shaun Bartlett (5 goals)
Best player(s)	Lauren
	← 1998 2002 →

Last updated September 08, 2025

The 2000 African Cup of Nations was the 22nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa (CAF). It was co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, who jointly replaced Zimbabwe as host. Just like in 1998, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four.

Host selection

It was expected that Zimbabwe will host this edition but it was sidelined by the CAF on 8 February 1999 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast for non-compliance with the specifications, the CAF announced that they would be receiving applications for the new hosts until 10 March 1999.

Bids :

Egypt (withdrew)
Ghana / Nigeria (selected as hosts)
Morocco

Egypt, Ghana, Morocco and Nigeria, were determined by the CAF to be compliant with the host criteria. Later, Egypt withdrew. A joint bid was formed between Ghana and Nigeria.

The organization of the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations was awarded jointly to Ghana and Nigeria on 15 March 1999 by the CAF Executive Committee meeting in Cairo, Egypt. Voters had a choice between three countries : Ghana, Morocco and Nigeria. This is the first time ever that the African Cup was co-hosted by two countries.

This is also the second time that Nigeria has hosted the African Cup after 1980 and the third time for Ghana after 1963 and 1978.

Qualified teams

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament^[a]
Egypt	Holders	28 February 1998	16 ( 1957 , 1959 , 1962, 1963, 1970, 1974 , 1976, 1980, 1984, 1986 , 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998 )
Ghana	Co-hosts		12 ( 1963 , 1965 , 1968, 1970, 1978 , 1980, 1982 , 1984, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998)
Nigeria	Co-hosts		10 (1963, 1976, 1978, 1980 , 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994 )
Burkina Faso	Group 5 winners	6 June 1999	3 (1978, 1996, 1998 )
Cameroon	Group 1 winners	6 June 1999	10 (1970, 1972 , 1982, 1984 , 1986, 1988 , 1990, 1992, 1996, 1998)
Morocco	Group 2 winners	6 June 1999	8 (1972, 1976 , 1978, 1980, 1986, 1988 , 1992, 1998)
Algeria	Group 7 runners-up	20 June 1999	10 (1968, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990 , 1992, 1996, 1998)
Congo	Group 3 runners-up	20 June 1999	5 (1968 1972 , 1974, 1978, 1992)
DR Congo	Group 6 runners-up	20 June 1999	11 (1965, 1968 , 1970, 1972, 1974 , 1976, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998)
Gabon	Group 4 runners-up	20 June 1999	2 (1994, 1996)
Ivory Coast	Group 3 winners	20 June 1999	13 (1965, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1984 , 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992 , 1994, 1996, 1998)
South Africa	Group 4 winners	20 June 1999	2 ( 1996 , 1998)
Togo	Group 2 runners-up	20 Jun 1999	3 (1972, 1984, 1998)
Tunisia	Group 7 winners	20 June 1999	8 (1962, 1963, 1965 , 1978, 1982, 1994 , 1996, 1998)
Zambia	Group 6 winners	20 June 1999	9 (1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998)
Senegal	Playoff winners	21 August 1999	6 (1965, 1968, 1986, 1990, 1992 , 1994)

Notes

↑ Bold indicates champion for that year, Italic indicates host.

Squads

Venues

Accra	Kumasi	Lagos	Kano
Accra Sports Stadium	Baba Yara Stadium	National Stadium	Sani Abacha Stadium
Capacity: 40,000	Capacity: 51,500	Capacity: 55,000	Capacity: 25,000

Accra Kumasi		Lagos Kano

First round

Teams highlighted in green progress to the Quarter Finals.

All times local: GMT (UTC) and WAT (UTC +1)

Group A

Group A of the 2000 AFCON remains as the only group stage that all four teams to achieve four points out of three matches.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cameroon	3	1	1	1	4	2	+2	4	Advance to knockout stage
2	Ghana (H)	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4	Advance to knockout stage
3	Ivory Coast	3	1	1	1	3	4	−1	4
4	Togo	3	1	1	1	2	3	−1	4

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
(H) Hosts

22 January 2000

16:00

Ghana	1–1	Cameroon
Ayew 57'		Foé 19'

Accra Sports Stadium, Accra

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Ali Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates)

24 January 2000