| |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host countries | Equatorial Guinea Gabon |
| Dates | 21 January – 12 February |
| Teams | 16 |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 4 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Zambia (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Ivory Coast |
| Third place |  Mali |
| Fourth place |  Ghana |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Goals scored | 76 (2.38 per match) |
| Attendance | 456,332 (14,260 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Manucho Pierre-Emerick AubameyangDidier DrogbaCheick Diabaté Houssine KharjaChristopher KatongoEmmanuel Mayuka(3 goals each) |
| Best player(s) | Christopher Katongo |
| Fair play award | Ivory Coast |
←2010 2013 → | |
The2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as theOrange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of theAfrica Cup of Nations, thefootball championship of Africa organized by theConfederation of African Football (CAF).
The competition took place between 21 January and 12 February 2012 and was co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. The bidding process for hosting the tournament ended in September 2006.
The matches were played infour stadiums in four host cities, with the final played at the newly builtStade d'Angondjé in Gabon's largest city,Libreville. Fourteen teams were selected for participation via acontinental qualification tournament that began in July 2010.
The 2012 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations took place against the backdrop of political turmoil.Libya andTunisia qualified for the tournament, even as theArab Spring brought upheaval andregime change to both nations.[1] Traditional African footballing nations such as reigning champions Egypt (also affected bypolitical events), as well as Cameroon, Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa had failed to qualify. Players from third-placed Mali had pleaded for theinsurgency in the north of their country to end.
In thefirst round of the tournament finals, the teams competed inround-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These eight teams advanced to theknockout stage, where three rounds of play decided which teams would participate in thefinal. Both host nations,Equatorial Guinea andGabon, were eliminated from the competition at the quarter-final stage.
In the final, unfanciedZambia defeated third-time finalistsIvory Coast after a dramaticpenalty shootout, despite the fact that Ivory Coast did not concede a single goal during the entire tournament,[2] giving Zambia their first continental title.[3] ManagerHervé Renard dedicated their win to the members of the national team who diedin a plane crash near the final's venue in Libreville in 1993.[4]
Bids :
Rejected Bids :
On 4 September 2006, theConfederation of African Football (CAF) approved a compromise between rival countries to host the Africa Cup of Nations after it ruled out Nigeria. CAF agreed to award the next three editions from 2010 to Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Libya respectively. They assigned Angola in 2010, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, which submitted a joint bid in 2012, and Libya for 2014.
This edition was awarded to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea to rotate the hosting of the cup and give hosting chance for first-timer nations.
Two-time former host Nigeria was the reserve host for the2010, 2012 and 2014 tournaments, in the event that any of the host countries failed to meet the requirements established by CAF, although this ended up being unnecessary.
The 2014 tournament was pushed forward to2013 and subsequently held in odd-numbered years to avoid clashing with theFIFA World Cup.[5]
The qualification process involved ten groups of four, one of which was reduced to a group of three after the withdrawal ofMauritania, and one group of five. The top team from each group goes through, as well as the second placed team from the group of five. The two best second place teams also qualify. At the end of the qualification process, fourteen teams would have qualified, as well as the two host nations. The first qualifiers were held on 1 July 2010.[6]
| Country | Qualified as | Qualification date | Appearance in finals | Previous best performance | Regional body | FIFA ranking1 | Continental ranking1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angola | JWGroup J Winner | 048 October 2011 | 066th | 40Quarterfinals (2008,2010) | COSAFA | 85 | 19 |
 Botswana | KWGroup K Winner | 0126 March 2011 | 011st | 20none | COSAFA | 94 | 21 |
 Burkina Faso | FWGroup F Winner | 033 September 2011 | 088th | 50Fourth place (1998) | WAFU | 66 | 14 |
| Ivory Coast | HWGroup H Winner | 025 June 2011 | 1919th | 80Winner (1992) | WAFU | 18 | 1 |
 Equatorial Guinea | AACo-host | 0029 July 2007 | 011st | 20none | UNIFFAC | 151 | 41 |
| Gabon | AACo-host | 0029 July 2007 | 055th | 30Quarterfinals (1996) | UNIFFAC | 91 | 20 |
| Ghana | IWGroup I Winner | 048 October 2011 | 1818th | 90Winner (1963,1965,1978,1982) | WAFU | 26 | 2 |
 Guinea | BWGroup B Winner | 048 October 2011 | 1010th | 60Second place (1976) | WAFU | 79 | 17 |
 Libya | RUTop Two Runner-Up | 048 October 2011 | 033rd | 60Second place (1982) | UNAF | 63 | 13 |
| Mali | AWGroup A Winner | 048 October 2011 | 077th | 60Second place (1972) | WAFU | 69 | 15 |
| Morocco | DWGroup D Winner | 059 October 2011 | 1414th | 80Winner (1976) | UNAF | 61 | 12 |
 Niger | GWGroup G Winner | 048 October 2011 | 011st | 20none | WAFU | 98 | 22 |
 Senegal | EWGroup E Winner | 033 September 2011 | 1212th | 60Second place (2002) | WAFU | 43 | 5 |
 Sudan | RUTop Two Runner-Up | 059 October 2011 | 088th | 80Winner (1970) | CECAFA | 120 | 30 |
 Tunisia | KXGroup K Runner-up | 048 October 2011 | 1515th | 80Winner (2004) | UNAF | 59 | 10 |
| Zambia | CWGroup C Winner | 048 October 2011 | 1515th | 70Second place (1974,1994) | COSAFA | 71 | 16 |
Togo were initially banned from the 2012 and2013 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments byCAF after they withdrew from the2010 tournament following anattack on their team bus.[7] Togo appealed to theCourt of Arbitration for Sport, withFIFA presidentSepp Blatter stepping in to mediate. The ban was subsequently lifted with immediate effect on 14 May 2010, after a meeting of the CAF Executive Committee.Togo were therefore free to play in the 2012 and2013 qualifiers.[8]
On 30 June 2010, afterNigeria's exit from the2010 FIFA World Cup, Nigerian PresidentGoodluck Jonathan punished the team for a poor campaign by imposing a two-year ban from international competition.[9] This would have resulted in the Nigerians missing out on both the 2012 qualifying phase and the 2012 African Cup of Nations. However, on 5 July, the Nigerian government dropped the ban after FIFA threatened to impose harsher international sanctions as a result of the government interference.[10] Nigeria competed in qualifying for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations as scheduled but failed to qualify.
The opening match, one semi-final and the third place match were held in Equatorial Guinea, while the other semi-final and the final were held in Gabon.[11]
| City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Bata | Estadio de Bata | 41,000 |
| Franceville | Stade de Franceville | 22,000 |
| Libreville | Stade d'Angondjé | 40,000 |
| Malabo | Estadio de Malabo | 20,000 |
The draw for the final tournament took place on 29 October 2011 at the Sipopo Conference Palace inMalabo, Equatorial Guinea.[12] The draw ceremony was attended by the two presidents from the host countries, PresidentAli Bongo of Gabon and PresidentTeodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.[13] The draw saw the 16 qualified teams being pitted into four groups of four teams each. The two top teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals with the winners progressing to the semi-finals and final eventually.
The two hosts were automatically seeded into pot 1. The other 14 qualified teams were ranked based on their performances during the previous three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.[14] For each of the last three African Cup of Nations final tournaments, the following system of points is adopted for the qualified countries:
| Classification | Points awarded |
|---|---|
| Winner | 7 |
| Runner-up | 5 |
| Losing semi-finalists | 3 |
| Losing quarter-finalists | 2 |
| Eliminated in 1st round | 1 |
Moreover, a weighted coefficient on points was given to each of the last three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations as follows:
The teams were then divided into four pots based on the ranking. Each group contained one team from each pot. Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, as co-hosts, were automatically seeded as the top team in Group A and C respectively.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equatorial Guinea(co-hosts) Gabon(co-hosts) Ghana(22 pts) Ivory Coast(17 pts) | Angola(11 pts) Tunisia(9 pts) Zambia(9 pts) Guinea(6 pts) | Mali(5 pts) Senegal(5 pts) Morocco(3 pts) Burkina Faso(3 pts) | Sudan(2 pts) Libya(1 pt) Botswana(0 pts) Niger(0 pts) |
The following referees were chosen for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.[15]
| Referees | Linesmen |
|---|---|
Mohamed Benouza | Albdelhak Etchiali |
Each team's squad for the tournament consisted of 23 players; only players in these squads were eligible to take part in the tournament. Each participating national association had to submit their squad by 11 January 2012 (midnightCET). Replacement of seriously injured players was permitted until 24 hours before the team in question's first match of the tournament.[16]
Groups A and B took place in Equatorial Guinea, while Groups C and D were held in Gabon.[17] Notably, there was not a single goalless draw during the group stage.
If two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria:[16]
All times areWest Africa Time (UTC+1).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zambia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 | Advance toknockout stage |
| 2 | Equatorial Guinea(H) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 6 | |
| 3 | Libya | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Senegal | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 0 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 1–0 | Libya |
|---|---|---|
Balboa 87' | Report |
| Libya | 2–1 | Senegal |
|---|---|---|
| Boussefi 5',84' | Report | D. N'Diaye 10' |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivory Coast | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 9 | Advance toknockout stage |
| 2 | Sudan | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| 3 | Angola | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Burkina Faso | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 0 |
| Ivory Coast | 1–0 | Sudan |
|---|---|---|
| Drogba 39' | Report |
| Burkina Faso | 1–2 | Angola |
|---|---|---|
| A. Traoré 58' | Report | Mateus Galiano 48' Manucho 68' |
| Ivory Coast | 2–0 | Burkina Faso |
|---|---|---|
| Kalou 16' B. Koné 82' (o.g.) | Report |
| Sudan | 2–1 | Burkina Faso |
|---|---|---|
| Mudather Karika 33',79' | Report | Ouédraogo 90+5' |
| Ivory Coast | 2–0 | Angola |
|---|---|---|
| Eboué 33' Bony 64' | Report |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gabon(H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 9 | Advance toknockout stage |
| 2 | Tunisia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 | |
| 3 | Morocco | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Niger | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 |
| Gabon | 2–0 | Niger |
|---|---|---|
| Aubameyang 31' N'Guéma 42' | Report |
| Gabon | 3–2 | Morocco |
|---|---|---|
| Aubameyang 76' Cousin 79'Mbanangoyé 90+10' | Report | Kharja 24',90+1' (pen.) |
| Gabon | 1–0 | Tunisia |
|---|---|---|
| Aubameyang 61' | Report |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ghana | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 7 | Advance toknockout stage |
| 2 | Mali | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | |
| 3 | Guinea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 4 | |
| 4 | Botswana | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 9 | −7 | 0 |
| Ghana | 1–0 | Botswana |
|---|---|---|
| John Mensah 25' | Report |
| Botswana | 1–6 | Guinea |
|---|---|---|
| Selolwane 23' (pen.) | Report | S. Diallo 15',27' A. R. Camara 42'Traoré 45'M. Bah 83'Soumah 86' |
| Ghana | 1–1 | Guinea |
|---|---|---|
| Agyemang-Badu 27' | Report | A. R. Camara 45' |
In the knockout stage,extra time and apenalty shoot-out were used to decide the winners if necessary.
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 4 February –Bata | ||||||||||
| Zambia | 3 | |||||||||
| 8 February –Bata | ||||||||||
| Sudan | 0 | |||||||||
| Zambia | 1 | |||||||||
| 5 February –Franceville | ||||||||||
| Ghana | 0 | |||||||||
| Ghana(a.e.t.) | 2 | |||||||||
| 12 February –Libreville | ||||||||||
| Tunisia | 1 | |||||||||
| Zambia(p) | 0 (8) | |||||||||
| 5 February –Libreville | ||||||||||
| Ivory Coast | 0 (7) | |||||||||
| Gabon | 1 (4) | |||||||||
| 8 February –Libreville | ||||||||||
| Mali(p) | 1 (5) | |||||||||
| Mali | 0 | |||||||||
| 4 February –Malabo | ||||||||||
| Ivory Coast | 1 | Third place play-off | ||||||||
| Ivory Coast | 3 | |||||||||
| 11 February –Malabo | ||||||||||
| Equatorial Guinea | 0 | |||||||||
| Ghana | 0 | |||||||||
| Mali | 2 | |||||||||
| Ivory Coast | 3–0 | Equatorial Guinea |
|---|---|---|
| Drogba 35',69' Y. Touré 81' | Report |
| Gabon | 1–1 (a.e.t.) | Mali |
|---|---|---|
| Mouloungui 54' | Report | Diabaté 85' |
| Penalties | ||
Poko Mbanangoyé Mouloungui Aubameyang  Manga | 4–5 | DiabatéYatabaréKantéB. TraoréKeita |
| Mali | 0–1 | Ivory Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Gervinho 45' |
| Zambia | 0–0 (a.e.t.) | Ivory Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Report | ||
| Penalties | ||
| C. Katongo Mayuka Chansa F. Katongo Mweene Sinkala Lungu Kalaba Sunzu | 8–7 | TiotéBonyBambaGradelDrogbaTiénéYa KonanK. TouréGervinho |
Christopher KatongoEmmanuel MayukaJean-Jacques Gosso Ivory Coast[20]
|
|
| Ranking criteria |
|---|
For teams eliminated in the same knockout round, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the final rankings:[22]
For teams eliminated in the group stage, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the final rankings:[22]
|
| Pos. | Team | G | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zambia | A | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 9 | 3 | +6 |
| 2 | Ivory Coast | B | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 9 | 0 | +9 |
| 3 | Mali | D | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 5 | +1 |
| 4 | Ghana | D | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 5 | +1 |
| Eliminated in the quarter-finals | ||||||||||
| 5 | Gabon | C | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 3 | +4 |
| 6 | Tunisia | C | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| 7 | Equatorial Guinea | A | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 5 | −2 |
| 8 | Sudan | B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | −3 |
| Eliminated in the group stage | ||||||||||
| 9 | Guinea | D | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 3 | +4 |
| 10 | Libya | B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | Angola | C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | −1 |
| 12 | Morocco | A | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | −1 |
| 13 | Senegal | A | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | −3 |
| 14 | Burkina Faso | B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | −4 |
| 15 | Niger | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | −4 |
| 16 | Botswana | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | −7 |
MateusMogakolodi NgeleDipsy SelolwaneIssiaka OuédraogoAlain TraoréJavier BalboaKilyRandyDaniel CousinBruno Zita MbanangoyéÉric MoulounguiStéphane N'GuémaEmmanuel Agyemang-BaduAsamoah GyanMamadou BahNaby SoumahIbrahima TraoréWilfried BonyEmmanuel EbouéGervinhoSalomon KalouYaya TouréGarra DembéléSeydou KeitaBakaye TraoréYounès BelhandaWilliam N'GounouDeme N'DiayeDame N'DoyeMoussa SowIssam JemâaSaber KhelifaKhaled KorbiJames ChamangaRainford KalabaStophira SunzuBakary Koné (playing against Ivory Coast)The mascot for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations was unveiled on 16 September 2011 at a ceremony inLibreville, Gabon. The mascot, namedGaguie, is a gorilla sporting the national team colors of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.[23]
The official matchball for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, manufactured byAdidas, was theComoequa. The name was inspired by theKomo River, which runs through the host nations, and theEquator, which runs throughout Africa and unites the host nations.[24]
| Editions |
|
|---|---|
| Qualification | |
| Finals | |
| Bids | |
| Squads | |
| Statistics | |
| Miscellaneous | |
| |
