Africa Cup of Nations History: From Three Teams to 24
How AFCON grew from a three-team tournament in 1957 into Africa's biggest sporting event, with its most successful nations.
By the SSFA Online team · Updated 2026-10-19
The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) began as a three-team tournament in Khartoum in 1957 and has grown into a 24-team festival watched across the world. This is its story in numbers.
1957: three teams and a founding moment
The Confederation of African Football was founded in February 1957, and the first Africa Cup of Nations followed in Sudan the same month. Only three teams played: Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. South Africa had been due to take part but withdrew after insisting on fielding an all-white team, a stance that led to its long exclusion from African football. Egypt won the first title, beating Ethiopia 4–0 in the final with all four goals scored by Mohamed Diab El-Attar.
Growth of the tournament
The finals expanded steadily as African nations gained independence and joined CAF: eight teams from 1968, twelve from 1992, sixteen from 1996 and twenty-four since the 2019 edition in Egypt. The tournament traditionally took place every two years in January and February, a slot that often clashed with the European club season. It moved to June–July in 2019, back to the start of the year for the 2021 and 2023 editions (played in 2022 and 2024), and the 2025 edition in Morocco ran from December 2025 into January 2026. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are set to co-host the next edition in 2027.
The most successful nations
Egypt hold the record with seven titles, including an unmatched hat-trick in 2006, 2008 and 2010. Cameroon have five, Ghana four, and Nigeria and Ivory Coast three each. Zambia's 2012 win carried special emotion: they lifted the trophy in Libreville, close to where much of their national team died in a 1993 air crash.
Every final at a glance
| Edition | Host | Champion |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Sudan |  Egypt |
| 1959 | Egypt | Egypt |
| 1962 | Ethiopia |  Ethiopia |
| 1963 | Ghana |  Ghana |
| 1965 | Tunisia | Ghana |
| 1968 | Ethiopia |  DR Congo |
| 1970 | Sudan |  Sudan |
| 1972 | Cameroon |  Congo |
| 1974 | Egypt | DR Congo |
| 1976 | Ethiopia |  Morocco |
| 1978 | Ghana | Ghana |
| 1980 | Nigeria |  Nigeria |
| 1982 | Libya | Ghana |
| 1984 | Ivory Coast |  Cameroon |
| 1986 | Egypt | Egypt |
| 1988 | Morocco | Cameroon |
| 1990 | Algeria |  Algeria |
| 1992 | Senegal |  Ivory Coast |
| 1994 | Tunisia | Nigeria |
| 1996 | South Africa |  South Africa |
| 1998 | Burkina Faso | Egypt |
| 2000 | Ghana & Nigeria | Cameroon |
| 2002 | Mali | Cameroon |
| 2004 | Tunisia |  Tunisia |
| 2006 | Egypt | Egypt |
| 2008 | Ghana | Egypt |
| 2010 | Angola | Egypt |
| 2012 | Gabon & Equatorial Guinea |  Zambia |
| 2013 | South Africa | Nigeria |
| 2015 | Equatorial Guinea | Ivory Coast |
| 2017 | Gabon | Cameroon |
| 2019 | Egypt | Algeria |
| 2021 | Cameroon |  Senegal |
| 2023 | Ivory Coast | Ivory Coast |
| 2025 | Morocco | Morocco |
Champions as recorded in the international results database, including results awarded by CAF.
Great scorers
Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o is widely credited as the tournament's all-time leading scorer with 18 goals across six editions. Our AFCON top scorers list is calculated from match-by-match goal data, and the hat-tricks page lists every AFCON treble on record.
Explore the numbers
- AFCON overview: every edition, the all-time table and biggest wins.
- AFCON winners with finals and runners-up.
- Every AFCON penalty shoot-out.
- Youngest AFCON goalscorers.