Ally Abdallah

There is more to Africa, a continent which has 53 countries, than just exotic parklands, amazing wild animals and safaris. It is proud of hosting a tournament for those 53 countries which enables the champion a berth at the FIFA Confederations Cup, just one year before the always anticipated World Cup.
 
The African Cup of Nations, also known as African Nations Cup (ANC), is the most important international association football competition in Africa and is endorsed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It originated from proposed plans for creating the CAF as the football governing body of Africa. These plans were put forward in a FIFA congress which took place in Lisbon, in 1956, and as a result a continental tournament had to be held.
 
The African Cup of Nations was first held 1957 and initially consisted of only three competing nations; Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. South Africa was supposed to be amongst them but were banned due to their unwillingness to send a multi-racial squad. This gave Ethiopia a straight place in the final, waiting to meet the winner of the Egypt vs Sudan semi-final. Egypt emerged as the champions of the first ANC.
 
After two years, it was Egypt as the host nation, competing the with the same three teams that once again emerged victorious, this time defeating Sudan in the final.
 
In the third ANC, six more teams joined, making a total of nine competing teams. The format changed and for the first time a qualifying round was played in order to determine who would play in the finals. Egypt made a third consecutive final appearance, but this time tasted defeat to Ethiopia, who avenged their loss in the first tournament.
 
Throughout its history, the African Cup of Nations has been dominated by various teams in a certain era. Throughout the 1960s, Ghananians won the cup and it all started from the moment they hosted the competition in 1963, in which they defeated Sudan in the final. Two years later they won it again, equalling Egypt’s two-time winners record. Another remarkable fact to note down is that they retained the cup with only two members from the 1963 winning squad, showing the richness of Ghananian footballing talent.
 
In 1968, the tournament adopted a system of grouping the eight teams into two groups, allowing the top two into the semi-final. The Democratic Republic of Congo won its first title, beating the holders Ghana in the final, while 1968 also saw another step in shaping the competition, as it began to be held every two years in even numbered years.

In 1970, the competition was covered by television for the first time. Sudan, the hosts, won the cup beating Ghana in the final. Six different nations then the won the cup between 1970-80, namely Morroco, Nigeria, Zaire (who won their first title as Democratic Republic of Congo), Ghana, Angola and Congo-Brazzaville.
 
The original trophy, made of silver, was the "Abdelaziz Abdallah Salem Trophy", named after the first CAF president, the Egyptian Abdelaziz Abdallah Salem. As the first winner of three Nations Cup tournaments, Ghana obtained the right to permanently hold the trophy in 1978.
 
A new trophy was designed and was awarded between 1980 to 2000. It was named the ‘Trophy of African Unity’ or ‘African Unity Cup’, a cylindrical piece with Olympic rings over a map of the continent engraved on it.

Cameroon dominated the tournament during the 80s as the Indomitable Lions won the cup in 1984 and 1988, beating Nigeria both times in the final. South Africa, made her first appearance after many years due to their ban, which was lifted in 1996, hosted the 20th ANC competition. The number of final participants increased to 16, making it necessary for them to be split into four groups. In fact, Bafana Bafana won its first title on home soil. The South Africans reached the final again in 1998 in Burkina Faso, but unfortunately lost to Egypt, who extended their title wins to four.
 
The new millennium saw Ghana and Nigeria hosting the competition jointly, as Cameroon won the title after defeating the co-host Nigeria on penalty kicks. Cameroon kept the Unity Cup after being the second team to win the right to permanently hold the cup in 2000.
 
In 2001, the third trophy was revealed, a gold-plated cup designed, made in Italy. In 2002 Cameroon became only the third team to achieve a feat only accomplished by Ghana in the 60s and Egypt in the 50s, as the Indomitable Lions won the cup on penalty kicks against Senegal, themselves first time finalists. Cameroon, permanent holders of the previous trophy, were the first nation to be awarded the new trophy.

In 2006, Egypt hosted the competition which saw the Pharaohs reaching the continental record of five cups. The champions retained their title as well in the next tournament, extending their record to six cups by defeating Cameroon 1-0 in the final.

As always, no good thing goes with being criticised one way or another. Many European clubs have complained about the timing of the competition as it clashes with and interrupts the European football season, resulting in players missing several club games. FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced that CAF has to shift the tournament, holding it in either June or July by 2016 in order to fit the international calender. But this would prevent many western and central African countries from hosting the competition as it would occur during the rainy season. Another opposing reason is that the competition would have to be shifted to take place in odd-numbered years in order to avoid coinciding with the World Cup.
 
Since the 1962 tournament, qualification matches have been held to determine the participants for the finals. From 1962 to 1990 qualification games were generally two-legged knock-out ties, with the number of rounds depending upon the number of participants. From 1994 onwards teams attempting to qualify have been divided into groups, with nations playing each other on a round robin basis. Until 2006 the title holders and tournament hosts qualified for the finals automatically; from 2008 only the hosts qualify automatically. The nature of the qualification groups varies from tournament to tournament. As of the 2008 tournament, qualification consists of eleven groups of four teams and one group of three teams. Each group winner qualifies, along with the three runners-up with the best records.
 
The African Cup of Nations continues to improve and increase its viewership throughout the world. Perhaps one day it will outshine many of the other continental competitions and lift international football to new heights. The Dark Continent has it shining star – The African Cup of Nations!

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