| |
---|---|
Tournament details | |
Host countries | Equatorial Guinea Gabon |
Dates | 21 January – 12 February |
Teams | 16 |
Venue(s) | 4 (in 4 host cities) |
Final positions | |
Champions | Zambia (1st title) |
Runners-up | Ivory Coast |
Third place | Mali |
Fourth place | Ghana |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 32 |
Goals scored | 76 (2.38 per match) |
Attendance | 456,332 (14,260 per match) |
Top scorer(s) | Manucho Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Didier Drogba Cheick Diabaté Houssine Kharja Christopher Katongo Emmanuel Mayuka (3 goals each) |
Best player(s) | Christopher Katongo |
Fair play award | Ivory Coast |
The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The competition took place between 21 January and 12 February 2012 and was co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. The bidding process for hosting the tournament ended in September 2006.
The matches were played in four stadiums in four host cities, with the final played at the newly built Stade d'Angondjé in Gabon's largest city, Libreville. Fourteen teams were selected for participation via a continental qualification tournament that began in July 2010.
The 2012 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations took place against the backdrop of political turmoil. Libya and Tunisia qualified for the tournament, even as the Arab Spring brought upheaval and regime change to both nations. [1] Traditional African footballing nations such as reigning champions Egypt (also affected by political events), as well as Cameroon, Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa had failed to qualify. Players from third-placed Mali had pleaded for the insurgency in the north of their country to end.
In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These eight teams advanced to the knockout stage, where three rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final. Both host nations, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, were eliminated from the competition at the quarter-final stage.
In the final, unfancied Zambia defeated third-time finalists Ivory Coast after a dramatic penalty shootout, despite the fact that Ivory Coast did not concede a single goal during the entire tournament, [2] giving Zambia their first continental title. [3] Manager Hervé Renard dedicated their win to the members of the national team who died in a plane crash near the final's venue in Libreville in 1993. [4]
Bids :
Rejected Bids :
On 4 September 2006, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) approved a compromise between rival countries to host the Africa Cup of Nations after it ruled out Nigeria. CAF agreed to award the next three editions from 2010 to Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Libya respectively. They assigned Angola in 2010, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, which submitted a joint bid in 2012, and Libya for 2014.
This edition was awarded to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea to rotate the hosting of the cup and give hosting chance for first-timer nations.
Two-time former host Nigeria was the reserve host for the 2010, 2012 and 2014 tournaments, in the event that any of the host countries failed to meet the requirements established by CAF, although this ended up being unnecessary.
The 2014 tournament was pushed forward to 2013 and subsequently held in odd-numbered years to avoid clashing with the FIFA World Cup. [5]
The qualification process involved ten groups of four, one of which was reduced to a group of three after the withdrawal of Mauritania, and one group of five. The top team from each group goes through, as well as the second placed team from the group of five. The two best second place teams also qualify. At the end of the qualification process, fourteen teams would have qualified, as well as the two host nations. The first qualifiers were held on 1 July 2010. [6]
Country | Qualified as | Qualification date | Appearance in finals | Previous best performance | Regional body | FIFA ranking 1 | Continental ranking 1 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Angola | Group J Winner | 8 October 2011 | 6th | 2008, 2010) | Quarterfinals (COSAFA | 85 | 19 |
Botswana | Group K Winner | 26 March 2011 | 1st | none | COSAFA | 94 | 21 |
Burkina Faso | Group F Winner | 3 September 2011 | 8th | 1998) | Fourth place (WAFU | 66 | 14 |
Ivory Coast | Group H Winner | 5 June 2011 | 19th | 1992) | Winner (WAFU | 18 | 1 |
Equatorial Guinea | Co-host | 29 July 2007 | 1st | none | UNIFFAC | 151 | 41 |
Gabon | Co-host | 29 July 2007 | 5th | 1996) | Quarterfinals (UNIFFAC | 91 | 20 |
Ghana | Group I Winner | 8 October 2011 | 18th | 1963, 1965, 1978, 1982) | Winner (WAFU | 26 | 2 |
Guinea | Group B Winner | 8 October 2011 | 10th | 1976) | Second place (WAFU | 79 | 17 |
Libya | Top Two Runner-Up | 8 October 2011 | 3rd | 1982) | Second place (UNAF | 63 | 13 |
Mali | Group A Winner | 8 October 2011 | 7th | 1972) | Second place (WAFU | 69 | 15 |
Morocco | Group D Winner | 9 October 2011 | 14th | 1976) | Winner (UNAF | 61 | 12 |
Niger | Group G Winner | 8 October 2011 | 1st | none | WAFU | 98 | 22 |
Senegal | Group E Winner | 3 September 2011 | 12th | 2002) | Second place (WAFU | 43 | 5 |
Sudan | Top Two Runner-Up | 9 October 2011 | 8th | 1970) | Winner (CECAFA | 120 | 30 |
Tunisia | Group K Runner-up | 8 October 2011 | 15th | 2004) | Winner (UNAF | 59 | 10 |
Zambia | Group C Winner | 8 October 2011 | 15th | 1974, 1994) | Second place (COSAFA | 71 | 16 |
Togo were initially banned from the 2012 and 2013 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments by CAF after they withdrew from the 2010 tournament following an attack on their team bus. [7] Togo appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter stepping in to mediate. The ban was subsequently lifted with immediate effect on 14 May 2010, after a meeting of the CAF Executive Committee. Togo were therefore free to play in the 2012 and 2013 qualifiers. [8]
On 30 June 2010, after Nigeria's exit from the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan punished the team for a poor campaign by imposing a two-year ban from international competition. [9] This would have resulted in the Nigerians missing out on both the 2012 qualifying phase and the 2012 African Cup of Nations. However, on 5 July, the Nigerian government dropped the ban after FIFA threatened to impose harsher international sanctions as a result of the government interference. [10] Nigeria competed in qualifying for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations as scheduled but failed to qualify.
The opening match, one semi-final and the third place match were held in Equatorial Guinea, while the other semi-final and the final were held in Gabon. [11]
City | Stadium | Capacity |
---|---|---|
Bata | Estadio de Bata | 41,000 |
Franceville | Stade de Franceville | 22,000 |
Libreville | Stade d'Angondjé | 40,000 |
Malabo | Estadio de Malabo | 20,000 |
The draw for the final tournament took place on 29 October 2011 at the Sipopo Conference Palace in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. [12] The draw ceremony was attended by the two presidents from the host countries, President Ali Bongo of Gabon and President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea. [13] The draw saw the 16 qualified teams being pitted into four groups of four teams each. The two top teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals with the winners progressing to the semi-finals and final eventually.
The two hosts were automatically seeded into pot 1. The other 14 qualified teams were ranked based on their performances during the previous three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. [14] For each of the last three African Cup of Nations final tournaments, the following system of points is adopted for the qualified countries:
Classification | Points awarded |
---|---|
Winner | 7 |
Runner-up | 5 |
Losing semi-finalists | 3 |
Losing quarter-finalists | 2 |
Eliminated in 1st round | 1 |
Moreover, a weighted coefficient on points was given to each of the last three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations as follows:
The teams were then divided into four pots based on the ranking. Each group contained one team from each pot. Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, as co-hosts, were automatically seeded as the top team in Group A and C respectively.
Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
---|---|---|---|
Equatorial Guinea (co-hosts) Gabon (co-hosts) Ghana (22 pts) Ivory Coast (17 pts) | Angola (11 pts) Tunisia (9 pts) Zambia (9 pts) Guinea (6 pts) | Mali (5 pts) Senegal (5 pts) Morocco (3 pts) Burkina Faso (3 pts) | Sudan (2 pts) Libya (1 pt) Botswana (0 pts) Niger (0 pts) |
The following referees were chosen for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. [15]
Referees | Linesmen |
---|---|
Mohamed Benouza | Albdelhak Etchiali |
Each team's squad for the tournament consisted of 23 players; only players in these squads were eligible to take part in the tournament. Each participating national association had to submit their squad by 11 January 2012 (midnight CET). Replacement of seriously injured players was permitted until 24 hours before the team in question's first match of the tournament. [16]
Groups A and B took place in Equatorial Guinea, while Groups C and D were held in Gabon. [17] Notably, there was not a single goalless draw during the group stage.
If two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria: [16]
All times are West Africa Time (UTC+1).
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Zambia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
2 | Equatorial Guinea (H) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 6 | |
3 | Libya | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
4 | Senegal | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 0 |
Equatorial Guinea | 1–0 | Libya |
---|---|---|
Balboa 87' | Report |
Equatorial Guinea | 0–1 | Zambia |
---|---|---|
Report | C. Katongo 68' |
Libya | 2–1 | Senegal |
---|---|---|
Boussefi 5', 84' | Report | D. N'Diaye 10' |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ivory Coast | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
2 | Sudan | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
3 | Angola | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 | |
4 | Burkina Faso | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 0 |
Ivory Coast | 1–0 | Sudan |
---|---|---|
Drogba 39' | Report |
Burkina Faso | 1–2 | Angola |
---|---|---|
A. Traoré 58' | Report | Mateus Galiano 48' Manucho 68' |
Ivory Coast | 2–0 | Burkina Faso |
---|---|---|
Kalou 16' B. Koné 82' (o.g.) | Report |
Sudan | 2–1 | Burkina Faso |
---|---|---|
Mudather Karika 33', 79' | Report | Ouédraogo 90+5' |
Ivory Coast | 2–0 | Angola |
---|---|---|
Eboué 33' Bony 64' | Report |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gabon (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
2 | Tunisia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 | |
3 | Morocco | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | |
4 | Niger | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 |
Gabon | 2–0 | Niger |
---|---|---|
Aubameyang 31' N'Guéma 42' | Report |
Gabon | 3–2 | Morocco |
---|---|---|
Aubameyang 76' Cousin 79' Mbanangoyé 90+10' | Report | Kharja 24', 90+1' (pen.) |
Gabon | 1–0 | Tunisia |
---|---|---|
Aubameyang 61' | Report |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ghana | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
2 | Mali | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | |
3 | Guinea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 4 | |
4 | Botswana | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 9 | −7 | 0 |
Ghana | 1–0 | Botswana |
---|---|---|
John Mensah 25' | Report |
Botswana | 1–6 | Guinea |
---|---|---|
Selolwane 23' (pen.) | Report | S. Diallo 15', 27' A. R. Camara 42' Traoré 45' M. Bah 83' Soumah 86' |
Ghana | 1–1 | Guinea |
---|---|---|
Agyemang-Badu 27' | Report | A. R. Camara 45' |
In the knockout stage, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winners if necessary.
Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
4 February – Bata | ||||||||||
Zambia | 3 | |||||||||
8 February – Bata | ||||||||||
Sudan | 0 | |||||||||
Zambia | 1 | |||||||||
5 February – Franceville | ||||||||||
Ghana | 0 | |||||||||
Ghana (a.e.t.) | 2 | |||||||||
12 February – Libreville | ||||||||||
Tunisia | 1 | |||||||||
Zambia (p) | 0 (8) | |||||||||
5 February – Libreville | ||||||||||
Ivory Coast | 0 (7) | |||||||||
Gabon | 1 (4) | |||||||||
8 February – Libreville | ||||||||||
Mali (p) | 1 (5) | |||||||||
Mali | 0 | |||||||||
4 February – Malabo | ||||||||||
Ivory Coast | 1 | Third place play-off | ||||||||
Ivory Coast | 3 | |||||||||
11 February – Malabo | ||||||||||
Equatorial Guinea | 0 | |||||||||
Ghana | 0 | |||||||||
Mali | 2 | |||||||||
Ivory Coast | 3–0 | Equatorial Guinea |
---|---|---|
Drogba 35', 69' Y. Touré 81' | Report |
Gabon | 1–1 (a.e.t.) | Mali |
---|---|---|
Mouloungui 54' | Report | Diabaté 85' |
Penalties | ||
Poko Mbanangoyé Mouloungui Aubameyang Manga | 4–5 | Diabaté Yatabaré Kanté B. Traoré Keita |
Mali | 0–1 | Ivory Coast |
---|---|---|
Report | Gervinho 45' |
|
|
Ranking criteria |
---|
For teams eliminated in the same knockout round, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the final rankings: [22]
For teams eliminated in the group stage, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the final rankings: [22]
|
Pos. | Team | G | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | GF | GA | GD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Zambia | A | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 9 | 3 | +6 |
2 | Ivory Coast | B | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 9 | 0 | +9 |
3 | Mali | D | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 5 | +1 |
4 | Ghana | D | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 5 | +1 |
Eliminated in the quarter-finals | ||||||||||
5 | Gabon | C | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 3 | +4 |
6 | Tunisia | C | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
7 | Equatorial Guinea | A | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 5 | −2 |
8 | Sudan | B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | −3 |
Eliminated in the group stage | ||||||||||
9 | Guinea | D | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 3 | +4 |
10 | Libya | B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
11 | Angola | C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | −1 |
12 | Morocco | A | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | −1 |
13 | Senegal | A | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | −3 |
14 | Burkina Faso | B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | −4 |
15 | Niger | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | −4 |
16 | Botswana | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | −7 |
The mascot for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations was unveiled on 16 September 2011 at a ceremony in Libreville, Gabon. The mascot, named Gaguie, is a gorilla sporting the national team colors of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. [23]
The official match ball for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, manufactured by Adidas, was the Comoequa . The name was inspired by the Komo River, which runs through the host nations, and the Equator, which runs throughout Africa and unites the host nations. [24]
The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football championship of Africa (CAF). It was held in Angola, where it began on 10 January 2010 and concluded on 31 January.
The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification was the qualification process for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, the 29th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. South Africa automatically qualified as the host country.
The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and was held from 17 January to 8 February 2015.
The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Total2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament was scheduled to be hosted by Libya, until CAF rescinded its hosting rights in August 2014 due to the Second Libyan civil war. The tournament was instead hosted by Gabon. This event was also part of the Africa Cup of Nations 60th Anniversary.
This page provides the summaries of the CAF second round matches for 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.
The 2012 African Women's Championship was a football competition, which was organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The final tournament was held in from 28 October to 11 November in Equatorial Guinea.
Group C of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations ran from 23 January until 31 January. It consisted of Gabon, Morocco, Niger and Tunisia. The matches were held in Gabon. Gabon and Tunisia progressed to the quarterfinals.
The knockout stage of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations was the second and final stage of the competition, following the group stage. It began on 4 February with the quarter-finals and ended on 12 February 2012 with the final held at the Stade d'Angondjé in Libreville. A total of 8 teams advanced to the knockout stage to compete in a single-elimination style tournament.
The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Final was a football match that took place on 12 February 2012 between Zambia and Ivory Coast. The match took place at the Stade d'Angondjé in Libreville, Gabon to determine the winner of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). This match was an emotional match for Zambia, as the stadium is located near the spot where most of the Zambian national team died when their aeroplane crashed in 1993. The kickoff time was delayed by 30 minutes to 20:30.
Group A of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations was played from 17 January until 25 January in Equatorial Guinea. The group consisted of the hosts Equatorial Guinea, Burkina Faso, Gabon, and Congo. Congo and Equatorial Guinea advanced as group winners and runners-up respectively, while Gabon and Burkina Faso were eliminated.
The knockout stage of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations was the second and final stage of the competition, following the group stage. It began on 31 January with the round of 16 and ended on 8 February 2015 with the final held at the Estadio de Bata in Bata. A total of 8 teams advanced to the knockout stage to compete in a single-elimination style tournament.
Group C of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification tournament was one of the thirteen groups to decide the teams which qualified for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals tournament. The group consisted of four teams: Mali, Equatorial Guinea, Benin, and South Sudan.
Group I of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification tournament was one of the thirteen groups to decide the teams which qualified for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals tournament. The group consisted of three teams: Ivory Coast, Sudan, and Sierra Leone. The hosts of the final tournament, Gabon, had also been drawn into this group and played games against the other three teams in the group; however, these matches were only considered as friendlies and not counted for the standings.
Group A of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations was played from 14 to 22 January 2017 in Gabon. The group consisted of hosts Gabon, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Guinea-Bissau.
The knockout stage of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations took place from 28 January to the final on 5 February 2017 in Gabon.
The 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations qualification was a men's under-17 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.
Tunisia have participated in the Africa Cup of Nations 21 times, and hold the record for the highest number of consecutive participations, with sixteen between 1994 and 2023. Tunisia's first AFCON appearance was in 1962, where they took third place by defeating Uganda 3–0; only four countries participated in this edition. In the 1965 edition, Tunisia were allowed to host the competition and reached the final, losing to Ghana 2–3 after extra time.
Ghana is one of Africa's major forces in the Africa Cup of Nations. Ghana made its debut in 1963, and quickly emerged as a powerful team in the tournament and went on to win the tournament again in 1965, 1978 and in 1982, which was the last tournament to date Ghana has won.
Cameroon are one of Africa's major forces in the Africa Cup of Nations. Cameroon won its first tournament in 1984, Cameroon emerged and became a fearsome power of the tournament, winning the tournament again in 2000 and 2002.
Ivory Coast is one of Africa's major forces in the Africa Cup of Nations. Ivory Coast has won the tournament three times, most recently as hosts in 2023. They previously won in 1992 and 2015. Ivory Coast has also finished as runner up twice, in 2006 and 2012.