Africa's football championship began in 1957 with three teams and two matches
The first Africa Cup of Nations, staged in Khartoum in February 1957, needed only two games to crown a champion. South Africa had been thrown out for insisting on an all-white squad, leaving Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia. The tournament now fields 24 nations, and Egypt still leads the honours list with seven titles.
The Confederation of African Football was proposed in June 1956 at a FIFA congress in Lisbon, and a continental championship followed within months. Ethiopia received a bye to the inaugural final after South Africa's disqualification over apartheid selection. Egypt beat the Sudanese hosts 2–1 and then Ethiopia 4–0. Two years later in Cairo, the same three sides met and Egypt won again. Ethiopia took its revenge at home in 1962, beating Egypt in extra time in the first edition with a qualifying round.
Ghana won on debut as hosts in 1963 and again in 1965, and in 1978 became the first nation to collect three titles. From 1968 the championship settled into a two-year rhythm. Ivory Coast forward Laurent Pokou top-scored in both 1968 and 1970, and his 14 goals stood as the overall record until 2008. The 1970 edition in Sudan was the first shown on television. In 1974 Zaire and Zambia drew 2–2 after extra time, forcing the only replayed final in the event's history; Zaire won the rerun 2–0, and Mulamba Ndaye scored all four Zairean goals across the two games, finishing with a single-tournament record of nine.
South Africa finally appeared in 1996, as hosts, after the end of apartheid lifted a decades-long ban, and the field expanded to 16. Cameroon lifted consecutive titles in 2000 and 2002, but Egypt went further, winning three straight in 2006, 2008 and 2010, a feat no one else has managed. Cameroon sits second on the all-time list with five, ahead of Ghana with four, and fifteen countries have won it in all.
Scheduling has been a running headache, because the event falls during the European club season. It moved to odd-numbered years from 2013 to avoid the World Cup, grew to 24 teams in 2019, and is expected to become a four-yearly event held in leap years from 2028.
Source: Africa Cup of Nations
