Africa Cup of Nations

Also known as AFCON, TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations

The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON in English and CAN in French, and currently known officially as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and was first held in 1957. Since 1968, it has been held every two years, switching to odd-numbered years in 2013. The competition is expected to revert to even-numbered years and become a quadrennial event, taking place in leap years from 2028.

AI overview

The Africa Cup of Nations is Africa's premier international soccer competition, held every two years and sanctioned by the African Football Confederation since its debut in 1957. It matters because it determines the continental champion and stands as the main stage where African nations compete at the highest level of the sport.

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Wikidata facts

Official website: www.cafonline.com/africa-cup-of-nations
Image: Confederation of African Football member associations map.svg

Show 6 more facts

Commons category: Africa Cup of Nations
inception: 0210-00-00
event interval: 2
number of participants: 24
short name: AFCON
native label: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations

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Article

The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON in English and CAN (from Coupe d'Afrique des Nations) in French, and currently known officially as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and was first held in 1957. Since 1968, it has been held every two years, switching to odd-numbered years in 2013. The competition is expected to revert to even-numbered years and become a quadrennial event, taking place in leap years from 2028.

In the first tournament in 1957, there were only three participating nations: Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia. South Africa was originally scheduled to join, but was disqualified due to the apartheid policies of the government then in power. Since then, the tournament has expanded greatly, making it necessary to hold a qualifying tournament. The number of participants in the final tournament reached 16 in 1998 (16 teams were to compete in 1996, but Nigeria withdrew, reducing the field to 15, and the same happened with Togo's withdrawal in 2010), and until 2017, the format had been unchanged, with the 16 teams being drawn into four groups of four teams each, with the top two teams of each group advancing to a "knock-out" stage. The 2019 edition of the tournament was moved from January to June and all future tournaments were expanded from 16 to 24 teams.