The Africa Cup of Nations also referred to as AFCON is the main international men’s association football competition in Africa. It is sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and was first held in 1957. Since 1968, it has been held every two years, switching to odd-numbered years in 2013.

Only three nations: Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia, participated in the first tournament in 1957. South Africa was originally scheduled to join, but was disqualified due to the apartheid policies of the government then in power. Since then, the tournament has expanded greatly, making it necessary to hold a qualifying tournament.

History of Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON)

The history of the African Nations Cup dates back to June 1956, when the creation of the Confederation of African Football was proposed during the third FIFA congress in Lisbon. There were immediate plans for a continental tournament to be held and, in February 1957, the first Africa Cup of Nations was held in Khartoum, Sudan.

Top 15 Countries With The Highest AFCON Wins

There was no qualification for this tournament, the field being made up of the four founding nations of CAF (Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, and South Africa). South Africa’s insistence on selecting only white players for its squad due to its apartheid policy led to its disqualification, and as a consequence Ethiopia were handed a bye straight to the final. Hence only two matches were played, with Egypt being crowned as the first continental champion after defeating hosts Sudan in the semi-final and Ethiopia in the final. Two years later Egypt hosted the second ANC in Cairo with the participation of the same three teams. Host and defending champions Egypt again won, after defeating Sudan.

How Many Countries / Teams Play In The African Cup of Nations (AFCON)?

Currently, 54 eligible teams play to enter qualification while 24 teams play the final tournaments.

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List of All medal holders (Gold, Silver and Bronze)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Egypt	7	3	3	13
2	Cameroon	5	2	2	9
3	Ghana	4	5	1	10
4	Nigeria	3	4	8	15
5	Ivory Coast	2	2	4	8
6	Algeria	2	1	2	5
7	DR Congo	2	0	2	4
8	Zambia	1	2	3	6
9	Sudan	1	2	1	4
	Tunisia	1	2	1	4
11	Senegal	1	2	0	3
12	Ethiopia	1	1	1	3
	Morocco	1	1	1	3
	South Africa	1	1	1	3
15	Congo	1	0	0	1
16	Mali	0	1	2	3
17	Burkina Faso	0	1	1	2
18	Guinea	0	1	0	1
	Libya	0	1	0	1
	Uganda	0	1	0	1
Totals (20 entries)		33	33	33	99

All Time Top Scorers In The African Cup of Nations (AFCON)

Rank	Player	Team	Goals scored
1	Samuel Eto’o	Cameroon	18
2	Laurent Pokou	Ivory Coast	14
3	Rashidi Yekini	Nigeria	13
4	Hassan El-Shazly	Egypt	12
5	Patrick Mboma	Cameroon	11
	Hossam Hassan	Egypt	11
	Didier Drogba	Ivory Coast	11
8	Ndaye Mulamba	DR Congo	10
	Francileudo Santos	Tunisia	10
	Joel Tiéhi	Ivory Coast	10
	Mengistu Worku	Ethiopia	10
	Kalusha Bwalya	Zambia	10
	André Ayew	Ghana	10
14	Manucho	Angola	9
	Vincent Aboubakar	Cameroon	9
	Abdoulaye Traoré	Ivory Coast	9
17	Pascal Feindouno	Guinea	8
	Sadio Mané	Senegal	8
	Ahmed Hassan	Egypt	8
	Seydou Keita	Mali	8
	Asamoah Gyan	Ghana	8
22	Osei Kofi	Ghana	7
	Ali Abo Gresha	Egypt	7
	Taher Abouzeid	Egypt	7
	Frédéric Kanouté	Mali	7
	Flávio	Angola	7
	Benni McCarthy	South Africa	7
	Christopher Katongo	Zambia	7
	Roger Milla	Cameroon	7
	Abedi Pele	Ghana	7
	Jay-Jay Okocha	Nigeria	7
	Youssef Msakni	Tunisia	7
34	George Alhassan	Ghana	6
	Wilberforce Mfum	Ghana	6
	Ahmed Faras	Morocco	6
	Mayanga Maku	DR Congo	6
	Segun Odegbami	Nigeria	6
	Mohamed Aboutrika	Egypt	6
	Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang	Gabon	6
	Shaun Bartlett	South Africa	6
	Julius Aghahowa	Nigeria	6
	Riyad Mahrez	Algeria	6
	Gervinho	Ivory Coast	6
	Mohamed Salah	Egypt	6
	Lakhdar Belloumi	Algeria	6
	Yaya Touré	Ivory Coast	6

Who is the oldest goalscorer in AFCON?
The oldest goalscorer in AFCON is Hossam Hassan, he was 39 years and 174 days old when he scored for Egypt against DR Congo in a 4–1 victory on 3 February 2006.

Who is the youngest goalscorer in AFCON?

The youngest goalscorer is Shiva N’Zigou, he was 16 years and 93 days old when he scored for Gabon against South Africa in a 1–3 defeat on 23 January 2000.

Fastest goals in AFCON
1st minute, Hassan El-Shazly for Egypt against Ivory Coast in 1974 (2–0 victory).
1st minute, Chérif Fetoui for Morocco against Congo in 1976 (2–2 draw).
1st minute, Phillip Omondi for Uganda against Congo in 1978 (3–1 victory).
1st minute, Tueba Menayame for Zaire against Cameroon in 1992 (1–1 draw).
1st minute, Ayman Mansour for Egypt against Gabon in 1994 (4–0 victory).
1st minute, Tijani Babangida for Nigeria against South Africa in 2000 (2–0 victory).
1st minute, Soufiane Alloudi for Morocco against Namibia in 2008 (5–1 victory).