AFRICA CUP 2019
21. Juni - 19. July 2019

Africa Cup 2019 | all news 

2019 Champions: Algeria
2017 Champions: Cameroon

History

Founded: 1957
Region: Africa (CAF)
Number of teams: 24
Current Champion 2019: Algeria
Most successful team: Egypt (7x titles)
Next African Cup of Nations 2021: Cameroon

 

The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa (CAF).

The tournament was hosted by Gabon.

The Africa Cup of Nations is also referred to as the African Nations Cup (ANC) is the main international 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.

The titleholders at the time of a FIFA Confederations Cup qualify for that competition.

In 1957 there were only three participating nations: Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. South Africa was to compete but was disqualified due to the apartheid policies of the government then in power.

Since then, the tournament has grown, 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).

Since then the format has been unchanged, with the sixteen teams being drawn into four groups of four teams each, with the top two teams of each group advancing to a "knock out" stage.

Egypt is the most successful nation in the cup's history, winning the tournament with a record of seven times. Ghana and Cameroon have won four titles each.

Three different trophies have been awarded during the tournament's history, with Ghana and Cameroon winning the first two versions to keep after each of them won a tournament three times. The current trophy was first awarded in 2002.