10 Shocking Facts About The African Cup Of Nations You Would Never Believe

Wonders they say will never end and mysteries will ever abound, the African Cup of Nations may have ended with the Indomitable Lions dominating Africa once again but before your very eyes will you be reading some shocking facts that you would find hard to believe but believe me when I say they are all true

1 Ivory Coast became champions of Africa for the first time in 1992 and second time in 2015 beating the same country the same way, penalty shootout and the country is Ghana

2 Ghana lost three third place matches in three years, two to Mali in 2012 and 2013 respectively and one to Boukina Faso in 2017

3 Cameroun has won the African Nations Cup for a record five times, 1984, 1988, 2000, 2002 and 2017. Three of those titles they won were against one country, Nigeria.

4 Nigeria a three time winner of the African Cup of Nations has won it in three parts of Africa, West Africa as the host in 1980, North Africa in Tunisia in 1994 and in the South in South Africa in 2013

5 In the African Cup of Nations in 2012, it was an emotional moment for the Zambian national team who were crowned champions and the reason was simple, the Zambians believed that the spirit of their departed football heroes played a part as the site of the crash was just 5oo metres away from one of the co-hosts of the Nations Cup, Libreville, Gabon

6 Nigeria missed three editions of the African Cup Of Nations, 2012, 2015 and 2017 in which Gabon and Equatorial Guinea were co-hosts and hosts respectively

7 Nigeria’s Sunday Mba made history by scoring the winning goals on two Sundays, the 3rd of February which saw the favourites Ivory Coast edged out at the quarter-final stage and on the 10th February on the final against Boukina Faso which saw Nigeria emerge as Champions of Africa for the third time

8 Sunday Mba scored the goal that crowned the Super Eagles as the Champions of Africa 19 years after their victory in Tunisia and guess what people? Sunday Mba wore the jersey number 19

9 Rashidi Yekini emerged highest goal scorer in three consecutive Nations Cup tournaments, Algiers 1990 (4 goals), Senegal 1992 (4 goals) and Tunisia 1994 (5 goals)

10 Steven Keshi lifted the Nations Cup as a player in 1994 in Tunisia and in 2013 in South Africa as a coach being his first time.

Africans Nations Cup.

11 Incredible Things You Never Knew About The African Cup of Nations

The African Cup of Nations has come and gone  with all the drama that a tournament of its calibre can have, here are 11 unbelievable things you never knew about the biannual tournament

1 The Nations Cup was first held in 1957 with three nations Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, South Africa would have been the fourth nation but were disqualified due to the apartheid policies

2 The tournament is celebrating its Diamond Jubilee meaning the tournament is 60 years old

3 Egypt is the only nation among the three pioneer nations that qualified for this year’s edition, Sudan, Ethiopia and South Africa did not qualify

4 Egypt have won the highest number of titles, seven in all, 1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010

5 30 nations have hosted the nations cup which 7 which hosted the tournament ended up as champions, Ethiopia, Ghana, Sudan, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia,

6 Four countries have co-hosted the tournament, Nigeria and Ghana in the year 2000, and Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in 2012

7 Equatorial Guinea and Gabon who were co-hosts of the tournament in 2012 once again hosted the tournament separately and incredibly consecutively

8 Ghana and Ivory Coast met at the finals of Senegal 1992 and Equatorial Guinea which ended in penalty shootout with Ivory Coast walking away the tournament winners

9 Egypt broke a record by winning the trophy three times in a row 2006, 2008 and 2010 respectively as against Ghana and Cameroun who won it back to back in 1963 and 1965 and 2000 and 2002 respectively

10 Ghana were the first nation to win the trophy back to back

11 Egypt was the first nation to win the tournament in 1957