AFRICA CUP 2022
09. January - 06. February 2022
2022 Champions: Senegal
2019 Champions: Algeria
2017 Champions: Cameroon
History
Founded: 1957
Region: Africa (CAF)
Number of teams: 24
Champion 2022: Senegal
Most successful team: Egypt (7x titles)
Next African Cup of Nations 2022: Cameroon
The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa (CAF).
The tournament was hosted by Gabon.
It was 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 qualified for that competition.
In 1957 there were only three participating nations: Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. South Africa was to have competed 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. In July 2017, two changes were proposed: switching the timing of the competition from January to the Northern Hemisphere summer and expanding from 16 to 24 teams (effective from the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations). On 20 July 2017, the CAF Executive Commission approved the propositions at a meeting in Rabat, Morocco.
Egypt was the most successful nation in the cup's history, having won the tournament a record seven times. Ghana and Cameroon had won four titles each.
Three different trophies had 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 had first been awarded in 2002.