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| Organiser(s) | CAF |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2009 |
| Abolished | 2025; 1 year ago (2025) |
| Region | Africa |
| Teams | 19 |
| Last champions |  Morocco (3rd title) |
| Most championships | Morocco (3 titles) |
| Broadcasters | |
| Website | Tickets |
| Tournaments |
|---|
TheAfrican Nations Championship, commonly abbreviated asCHAN,[a] was a biennial Africanassociation football tournament organised by theConfederation of African Football (CAF). It was first announced in September 2007 and held from2009.[1] The participating teams consisted of players who were playing in their national league competitions. The tournament was held biennially and alternated with theAfrica Cup of Nations,[2] and was commonly referred to as the Africa Cup of Nations for locally based players.[3]
Morocco was the most successful team in this tournament with three titles, followed byDR Congo with two titles, andTunisia,Libya and Senegal with one title each.[4] The tournament began life in 2009 with 8 teams, which was doubled for the second edition up until the sixth[5][6] and was contested by 18 teams since the2022 edition.[7][8][9]
From the2014 edition onward, matches from qualification to the final were computed to determine theFIFA World Rankings after each tournament, a move CAF described at the time as an important step in the competition’s development.[10]
On 20 December 2025, CAF presidentPatrice Motsepe announced the abolition of the African Nations Championship in a press conference, with theAfrican Nations League introduced as its replacement.[11]
The conception of this tournament came on 11 September 2007 during a CAF Executive Committee inJohannesburg,South Africa, with the aim being to give homegrown players opportunities to represent their nations and promote their home leagues globally.[12] The tournament was approved and confirmed in January 2008 beforethat year's Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana. Following its conclusion of that tournament in February, CAF voted unanimously for Ivory Coast against firm-favorite countries like Sudan and Egypt to host the inaugural edition, after which the tournament dates and schedules were confirmed.
Qualification for the inaugural edition began on 29 March and concluded on 14 December 2008, which ended with seven teams joiningIvory Coast at the inaugural edition. The inaugural tournament match kicked off betweenZambia and Ivory Coast on 22 February 2009 at theFelix Houphouet Boigny Stadium inAbidjan with ZambianGiven Singuluma scoring the tournament's first goal. In Group A, Zambia and Senegal qualified at the expense ofTanzania and Ivory Coast. In Group B,Ghana and DR Congo qualified for the knockout stages withZimbabwe and Libya eliminated.
In the semi-finals, Ghana defeated Senegalon penalties whereas DR Congo beat Zambia to advance to the final. Zambia nonetheless finished their inaugural CHAN campaign on a high after defeating Senegal in the third-place match. DR Congo defeated Ghana 2–0 in the final at the same stadium that opened the tournament to became the inaugural champions, thus in the process ending a 35-year wait for an international trophy win of any sort.[13]
The rapid interest of African countries in the tournament led to an increase in team participation from 8 to 16 in its second edition hosted by Sudan amid a struggle forthe independence for the southern part of the country in 2011.[14] It was hosted in four cities;Omdurman,Khartoum,Wad Madani andPort Sudan. Qualification for that edition began on 11 January and concluded on 6 June 2010, with 11 teams making their tournament debuts and 5 teams, including Ghana and Libya, returned for the second edition.[15]
The 2011 edition was seen by the media as "very irregular", as there was a dominant team in each group but all the second teams were decided in the third and final group stage round.Cameroon andSouth Africa won all their group stage matches, but ended up losing toAngola andAlgeria respectively in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Sudan beatNiger on penalties andTunisia beat then-defending champions DR Congo.
In the semi-finals on 22 February 2011, Tunisia v Algeria and Sudan v Angola finished 1–1 after the regulation 120 minutes, with Tunisia beating Algeria 3–5 on penalties and Angola winning 4–2 against Sudan also on penalties. The second tournament editions hosts Sudan thus finished their campaign off on a high with third place and bronze medals after beating Algeria 1–0. Tunisia and Angola got a rematch in the final after a group stage 1–1 drawn match, with the formerclaiming the title on its debut with a 3–0 win over Angola.
CAF changed the frequency of the Africa Cup of Nations followingthe 2010 edition to odd-numbered years so as not to clash with theFIFA World Cup, which had a consequential knock-on effect on CHAN, which was from then on held biennially in even-numbered years. CAF also named Libya as hosts ofthe 2013 AFCON andthe 2014 CHAN, but had both hosting rights stripped at the onset ofthe first Libyan civil war. Several countries offered themselves as replacement hosts, including Egypt and South Africa, with the latter chosen as the hosts, citing the credential of its impressive infrastructural hosting of the2010 FIFA World Cup.
The third edition ran from 11 January to 1 February 2014 and was labelled by the media as "fantastic", as they claimed the host nation's stadiums which hosted World Cup matches 4 years earlier "gave a different touch to the tournament". Like the second edition, the quarter-finalists were decided in the third and final round, with decisive goals in added-on time in each group and the knockout stages except the final were decided by the odd goal or on penalties. In the match for third place,Nigeria, who had several players on their team who wonthe final of the previous year's AFCON and were preparing for the2014 FIFA World Cup, won the bronze medal, after beating Zimbabwe 1–0.
Thefinal was held inCape Town between Ghana and then-surprise package Libya. The match, like that entire edition, was very tight and ended 0–0 and the champions were determined by penalties. After 6 penalties per side, Libya won their inaugural CHAN title and their first continental title in its history, which at the time was more than impressive given than they won a single match in the group stage againstEthiopia and went undefeated through consecutive draws and penalty shoot-out wins.
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The 4th edition of the tournament was held from 16 January to 7 February 2016 in Rwanda[16] and DR Congo claimed their second title defeatingMali, in the final for the first time and thus representing their best tournament performance, 3–0 inthe final.
The 5th edition in 2018 was originally scheduled to be hosted in Kenya, but due to several delays in preparation and organisation, CAF stripped the country of the hosting rights[17] and opened a new election process.[18] On 14 October 2017, CAF announced Morocco as the new host of the 2018 edition, which was played between 13 January to 4 February.[19] One of the main reasons why Morocco applied to be an organiser is becauseit was looking to host the2026 FIFA World Cup, so the tournament represented one of the country's last chances to show itself as a strong candidate.The final pitted hosts Morocco andNigeria; both teams were undefeated throughout that edition of the tournament and only had a draw to their credit in their respective group stages. Morocco won the match 4–0,[20] winning the title for the first time and becoming the first host nation to win the tournament.[21]
Morocco successfully defended their title in the2020 edition, postponed to 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Africa andits impact, by defeating Mali 2–0in the final on 7 February 2021, thus becoming the first and so far only nation to win back-to-back titles.[22][23] On 4 February 2023, Senegal defeated Algeria in the penalty shootout to become the first West African nation to win the title, which followed on fromtheir win in the2021 Africa Cup of Nations.[24]
Theseventh edition was played in Algeria from 13 January to 4 February 2023. Eighteen teams were supposed to be contesting in this edition, which would have been an increase of 2 teams from the previous edition in 2020;[25][26][27] but defending championsMorocco were unable to defend their title due to political tensions with Algerian authorities which began with Algeria's unilaterally decision in 2021 to close its airspace to Moroccan flights, including and especially its official carrierRoyal Air Maroc.Senegal won their first title after defeatingAlgeria inthe final 5–4 on penalties after the match ended 0–0.[28] Senegal became the first team to win the Africa Cup of Nations and the African Nations Championship back-to-back.
Morocco won their record third title in the2024 edition, held inKenya,Uganda, andTanzania, defeatingMadagascar 3–2 in the final.[29]
On 20 December 2025, CAF President Dr Motsepe announced the cancellation of the African Nations Championship during a press conference, with theAfrican Nations League introduced as its replacement.[30][31]
On 21 July 2016, French energy and petroleum giantTotalEnergies secured an 8-year sponsorship package from CAF tosponsor its competitions.[32][33]
Forthe inaugural edition of the tournament in 2009, teams for the group stage were allocated as follows:
Fromthe second edition in 2011 untilthe 6th edition in 2021 (originally 2020), the expansion of national team participation to 16 teams led to the change in zonal team allocations, including the host country, were as follows:
Until 2021, the group stage consisting of 16 teams were divided into four groups of four teams each. Within each group they face each other once, through the system of all against all. Depending on the result of each match, three points are awarded to the winner, one point to each team in case of a tie, and none to the loser.
The two best-ranked teams from each group advance to the next round. If at the conclusion of the group matches, two teams finish level on points, the following tie-breaking criteria apply:
If two or more teams are tied based on the above guidelines, their positions will be determined by the following criteria, in order of preference:
If after applying the above criteria two teams are still tied, the above three criteria are reapplied to the match played between the two teams in question to determine their final standings. If this procedure does not lead to a tiebreaker, the following tiebreaker criteria apply:
The second round includes all phases from the round of 16 to the final. The two semi-finalists qualify through the direct elimination system. The losing teams of the semifinals play a match for third and fourth place, while the winners play the final match, where the winner gets the title.
If a game is tied after 90 minutes of play, extra time is played in two halves of 15 minutes each, even to the extent ofa penalty shoot-out if the result is still tied after this extra time.
| Ed. | Year | Host | First place game | Third place game | Teams | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Champion | Score |  Runner-up |  Third place | Score |  Fourth place | ||||||
| 1 | 2009 |  Ivory Coast |  DR Congo | 2–0 |  Ghana |  Zambia | 2–1 |  Senegal | 8 | ||
| 2 | 2011 |  Sudan |  Tunisia | 3–0 |  Angola | Sudan | 1–0 |  Algeria | 16 | ||
| 3 | 2014 |  South Africa |  Libya | 0–0 (4–3p) | Ghana |  Nigeria | 1–0 |  Zimbabwe | 16 | ||
| 4 | 2016 |  Rwanda | DR Congo | 3–0 |  Mali | Ivory Coast | 2–1 |  Guinea | 16 | ||
| 5 | 2018 | Morocco | Morocco | 4–0 | Nigeria | Sudan | 1–1 (4–2p) | Libya | 16 | ||
| 6 | 2020 |  Cameroon | Morocco | 2–0 | Mali | Guinea | 2–0 | Cameroon | 16 | ||
| 7 | 2022 | Algeria | Senegal | 0–0 (5–4p) | Algeria |  Madagascar | 1–0 |  Niger | 17 | ||
| 8 | 2024 |  Kenya Tanzania Uganda | Morocco | 3–2 | Madagascar | Senegal | 1–1 (4–2p) | Sudan | 19 | ||
Years shown inbold indicate that the country also hosted an edition of the tournament.
| Team | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morocco | 3 (2018,2020,2024) | – | – | – | 3 |
 DR Congo | 2 (2009,2016) | – | – | – | 2 |
| Senegal | 1 (2022) | – | 1 (2024) | 1 (2009) | 3 |
| Libya | 1 (2014) | – | – | 1 (2018) | 2 |
| Tunisia | 1 (2011) | – | – | – | 1 |
| Ghana | – | 2 (2009,2014) | – | – | 2 |
| Mali | – | 2 (2016,2020) | – | – | 2 |
| Nigeria | – | 1 (2018) | 1 (2014) | – | 2 |
| Madagascar | – | 1 (2024) | 1 (2022) | – | 2 |
| Algeria | - | 1 (2022) | – | 1 (2011) | 2 |
| Angola | – | 1 (2011) | – | – | 1 |
| Sudan | – | – | 2 (2011,2018) | 1 (2024) | 3 |
| Guinea | – | – | 1 (2020) | 1 (2016) | 2 |
| Zambia | – | – | 1 (2009) | – | 1 |
| Ivory Coast | – | – | 1 (2016) | – | 1 |
| Zimbabwe | – | – | – | 1 (2014) | 1 |
| Cameroon | – | – | – | 1 (2020) | 1 |
 Niger | – | – | – | 1 (2022) | 1 |
| Team | 2009 | 2011 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | 2020 | 2022 | 2024 | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Algeria | • | 4th | × | × | • | • | 2nd | QF | 3 |
 Angola | • | 2nd | GS | QF | GS | GS | 5 | ||
 Burkina Faso | • | • | GS | GS | GS | • | GS | 4 | |
 Burundi | • | • | GS | • | • | 1 | |||
 Cameroon | • | QF | • | QF | GS | 4th | GS | • | 5 |
 Congo | • | × | GS | QF | QF | GS | GS | 5 | |
 Central African Republic | • | × | × | × | × | • | • | GS | 1 |
| DR Congo | 1st | QF | QF | 1st | • | QF | GS | GS | 7 |
 Equatorial Guinea | × | × | GS | • | •• | 2 | |||
 Ethiopia | × | × | GS | GS | GS | • | 3 | ||
 Gabon | • | GS | QF | GS | × | × | 3 | ||
 Ghana | 2nd | GS | 2nd | QF | • | 4 | |||
 Guinea | • | • | 4th | GS | 3rd | • | GS | 4 | |
 Ivory Coast | GS | GS | 3rd | GS | QF | • | 5 | ||
 Kenya | • | • | • | • | × | • | × | QF | 1 |
 Libya | GS | • | 1st | • | 4th | GS | GS | × | 5 |
 Madagascar | 3rd | 2nd | 2 | ||||||
 Mali | • | GS | QF | 2nd | 2nd | GS | • | 5 | |
 Mauritania | • | × | GS | GS | QF | GS | 4 | ||
 Morocco | • | • | QF | GS | 1st | 1st | × | 1st | 5 |
 Mozambique | • | • | GS | QF | • | 2 | |||
 Namibia | • | • | QF | GS | × | • | 2 | ||
| Niger | • | QF | GS | GS | 4th | GS | 5 | ||
 Nigeria | • | • | 3rd | GS | 2nd | • | • | GS | 4 |
 Rwanda | • | GS | QF | GS | QF | • | • | 4 | |
 Senegal | 4th | GS | 1st | 3rd | 4 | ||||
 South Africa | • | QF | GS | • | GS | 2 | |||
 Sudan | • | 3rd | 3rd | GS | 4th | 4 | |||
 Tanzania | GS | • | GS | • | QF | 3 | |||
 Togo | • | • | GS | • | • | 1 | |||
 Tunisia | • | 1st | • | QF | × | •• | × | •• | 3 |
 Uganda | • | GS | GS | GS | GS | GS | GS | QF | 7 |
 Zambia | 3rd | • | • | QF | QF | QF | • | GS | 5 |
 Zimbabwe | GS | GS | 4th | GS | • | GS | × | • | 5 |
| Total | 8 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 19 |
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| Year | Hosts | Champions (titles) | Winning coach | Top scorer(s) (goals) | Most valuable player |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Ivory Coast | DR Congo (1) | Mutumbile Santos | Given Singuluma (5) | Trésor Mputu |
| 2011 | Sudan | Tunisia (1) | Sami Trabelsi | Zouheir Dhaouadi | |
| 2014 | South Africa | Libya (1) |  Javier Clemente | Bernard Parker (4) | Ejike Uzoenyi |
| 2016 | Rwanda | DR Congo (2) | Florent Ibengé |
| Meschak Elia |
| 2018 | Morocco | Morocco (1) | Jamal Sellami | Ayoub El Kaabi (9) | Ayoub El Kaabi |
| 2020 | Cameroon | Morocco (2) | Hussein Ammouta | Soufiane Rahimi (5) | Soufiane Rahimi |
| 2022 | Algeria | Senegal (1) | Pape Thiaw | Aymen Mahious (5) | Houssem Eddine Mrezigue |
| 2024 | Kenya Tanzania Uganda | Morocco (3) | Tarik Sektioui | Oussama Lamlioui (6) | Mohamed Rabie Hrimat |
The following players finished with five or more goals in a single edition of the tournament.
| Goals | Player(s) | Nation(s) | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Ayoub El Kaabi | Morocco | 2018 |
| 6 | Oussama Lamlioui | Morocco | 2024 |
| 5 | Aymen Mahious | Algeria | 2022 |
| Soufiane Rahimi | Morocco | 2020 | |
| Given Singuluma | Zambia | 2009 |
Ahat-trick is achieved when the same player scores three goals in a match. Listed in chronological order.
| Sequence | Player | No. of goals | Time of goals | Representing | Final score | Opponent | Tournament | Round | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Given Singuluma | 3 | 36', 49', 50' | Zambia | 3–0 | Ivory Coast | 2009 | Group stage | 22 February 2009 |
| 2. | Chisom Chikatara | 3 | 75', 81', 90' | Nigeria | 4–1 | Niger | 2016 | Group stage | 18 January 2016 |
| 3. | Ayoub El Kaabi | 3 | 27', 65', 68' | Morocco | 3–1 | Guinea | 2018 | Group stage | 17 January 2018 |
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Countries at theAfrican Nations Championship | |
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| North Africa (UNAF) | |
| West Africa (WAFU) | |
| East Africa (CECAFA) | |
| Central Africa (UNIFFAC) | |
| Southern Africa (COSAFA) | |
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African Nations Championship top scorers | |
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