2021 Africa Cup of Nations

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2021 Africa Cup of Nations

Coupe d'Afrique des Nations 2021
Official logo
Tournament details
Host country	Cameroon
Dates	9 January – 6 February 2022[1]
Teams	24 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	6 (in 5 host cities)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	48
Goals scored	90 (1.88 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Vincent Aboubakar (6 goals)
← 2019 2023 → All statistics correct as of 30 January 2022.

The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons,^[2] is the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football championship of Africa organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament is being hosted by Cameroon,^[3] and taking place from 9 January to 6 February 2022.^[1]

The tournament was originally scheduled to be played in June and July 2021. However, on 15 January 2020, the CAF announced that due to unfavourable climatic conditions during that period, the tournament had been rescheduled to be played between 9 January and 6 February 2021.^[4] On 30 June 2020, the CAF moved the tournament's dates for the second time to January 2022 following the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic across the continent, whilst retaining the name 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes.^[5]

Algeria were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage.

Host selection

After the CAF Executive Committee meeting on 24 January 2014, it was announced that there were three official candidates for the 2021 edition:^[6]

Bids:

• Algeria
• Guinea
• Ivory Coast

Rejected Bids:

• DR Congo
• Gabon
• Zambia

This list was different from the list of the host nation bids for both the 2019 and 2021 edition of the Cup of Nations as announced by CAF in November 2013, with Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Zambia also on the original list.^[7] All three official candidates also bid for hosting the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

The decision of the host country was postponed from early 2014 to grant each bidding country adequate time to receive the inspection delegation.^[6] After the final vote at the CAF Executive Committee meeting, on 20 September 2014, the CAF announced the hosts for the 2019, 2021 and 2023 AFCON tournaments: 2019 to Cameroon, 2021 to Ivory Coast, and 2023 to Guinea.^[8]

Host change

On 30 November 2018, CAF stripped Cameroon from hosting the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations because of delays in construction of stadiums and other necessary infrastructure;^[9] it was relocated to Egypt. CAF President Ahmad Ahmad said that Cameroon had agreed to host the 2021 tournament instead. Consequently, Ivory Coast, original hosts of 2021, will host the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, and Guinea, original hosts of 2023, will host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.^[10][11] On 30 January 2019, the CAF President confirmed the timetable shift, after a meeting with Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.^[12]

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

The tournament was originally scheduled to take place between 9 January and 6 February 2021. The preliminary round and two matchdays of the qualifying group stage had already been played between 9 October and 19 November 2019. The third and fourth matchdays of the qualifying group stage, which were initially scheduled to take place from 23 to 31 March and 1 to 9 June 2020 respectively, were postponed and all remaining qualifying matches rescheduled due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.^[13]

On 19 June 2020, the CAF stated it was undecided about when continental competitions would resume, and were prioritising new schedules for the 2019–20 CAF Champions League and the 2019–20 CAF Confederation Cup semi-finals, the postponed 2020 African Nations Championship and the 2020 Africa Women Cup of Nations, alongside the 2021 Africa Cup of Nation, as football competitions across the continent had been postponed, cancelled or suspended.^[14]

On 30 June 2020, however, the CAF announced the rescheduling of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations to January 2022 "after consultation with stakeholders and taking into consideration the current global situation" according to a published statement, with new dates to be announced at a later date.^[15] Subsequently, other continental competitions and events to be held were rescheduled or cancelled, including new dates for the remaining AFCON qualifiers, which were now to be completed by March 2021.^[16] On 31 March 2021, it was confirmed that the final tournament would take place from 9 January to 6 February 2022, exactly one year after its originally scheduled start date.^[1]

Qualification

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the tournament.

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance	FIFA ranking at start of event
Cameroon	Hosts / Group F winners	8 January 2019	20th	2019	Winners (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2017)	50
Senegal	Group I winners	15 November 2020	16th	2019	Runners-up (2002, 2019)	20
Algeria	Group H winners	16 November 2020	19th	2019	Winners (1990, 2019)	29
Mali	Group A winners	17 November 2020	12th	2019	Runners-up (1972)	53
Tunisia	Group J winners	17 November 2020	20th	2019	Winners (2004)	30
Burkina Faso	Group B winners	24 March 2021	12th	2017	Runners-up (2013)	60
Guinea	Group A runners-up	24 March 2021	13th	2019	Runners-up (1976)	81
Comoros	Group G runners-up	25 March 2021	1st	None	Debut	132
Gabon	Group D runners-up	25 March 2021	8th	2017	Quarter-finals (1996, 2012)	89
Gambia	Group D winners	25 March 2021	1st	None	Debut	150
Egypt	Group G winners	25 March 2021	25th	2019	Winners (1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010)	45
Ghana	Group C winners	25 March 2021	23rd	2019	Winners (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982)	52
Equatorial Guinea	Group J runners-up	25 March 2021	3rd	2015	Fourth place (2015)	114
Zimbabwe	Group H runners-up	25 March 2021	5th	2019	Group stage (2004, 2006, 2017, 2019)	121
Ivory Coast	Group K winners	26 March 2021	24th	2019	Winners (1992, 2015)	56
Morocco	Group E winners	26 March 2021	18th	2019	Winners (1976)	28
Nigeria	Group L winners	27 March 2021	19th	2019	Winners (1980, 1994, 2013)	36
Sudan	Group C runners-up	28 March 2021	9th	2012	Winners (1970)	125
Malawi	Group B runners-up	29 March 2021	3rd	2010	Group stage (1984, 2010)	129
Ethiopia	Group K runners-up	30 March 2021	11th	2013	Winners (1962)	137
Mauritania	Group E runners-up	30 March 2021	2nd	2019	Group stage (2019)	103
Guinea-Bissau	Group I runners-up	30 March 2021	3rd	2019	Group stage (2017, 2019)	106
Cape Verde	Group F runners-up	30 March 2021	3rd	2015	Quarter-finals (2013)	73
Sierra Leone	Group L runners-up	15 June 2021	3rd	1996	Group stage (1994, 1996)	108

Format

A total of 24 teams are competing in the final tournament. Only the hosts received an automatic qualification spot, with the other 23 teams qualified through a qualification tournament. At the finals, the 24 teams were drawn into six groups of four teams. The teams in each group played a single round robin. After the group stage, the top two teams from each group and the four highest ranked third-placed teams advanced to the round of 16. The round of 16 winners will advance to the quarter-finals and the quarter-final winners will advance to the semi-finals. The semi-final losers will play in a third place match, while the semi-final winners will contest the final.

Match ball

CAF announced the official match ball named Toghu on 23 November 2021. It is made by English manufacturer Umbro.^[17]

Mascot

The mascot, "Mola", was unveiled on May 17, 2021, during a ceremony in Yaoundé. He is a lion and his kit bears resemblance to Cameroon's home colors, with words saying "Cameroon" with "2021" on the top and bottom of the kit.^[18]

Match officials

The following referees were chosen for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, with two referees from CONCACAF assigned. The list consists of 24 referees, 31 assistant referees and eight video assistant referees from 36 countries.^[19]

Referees

Assistant referees

Video assistant referees

Draw

The final draw was originally scheduled to take place on 25 June 2021, but was postponed to 17 August 2021.^[1][2][20] The 24 teams were drawn into four groups of six.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Cameroon (hosts)  Algeria (title holders)  Senegal  Tunisia  Nigeria  Morocco	Egypt  Ghana  Mali  Ivory Coast  Guinea  Burkina Faso	Cape Verde  Gabon  Mauritania  Zimbabwe  Guinea-Bissau  Sierra Leone	Sudan  Malawi  Comoros  Equatorial Guinea  Ethiopia  Gambia

Venues

With the Africa Cup of Nations expanded from 16 to 24 teams, at least six venues are expected to be used across five Cameroonian cities.^[21] The six stadiums selected to host matches are the Olembe Stadium and Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in the capital Yaoundé, the Japoma Stadium in Douala, the Limbe Stadium in Limbe, the Kouekong Stadium in Bafoussam and the Roumde Adjia Stadium in Garoua.^[22] The opening match of the tournament and the final are set to take place at the newly built 60,000 seater Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé.^[23]

Douala Yaoundé Garoua Bafoussam Limbe		Douala	Yaoundé
		Japoma Stadium	Olembe Stadium	Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo
		Capacity: 50,000	Capacity: 60,000	Capacity: 42,500
		Garoua	Bafoussam	Limbe
		Roumdé Adjia Stadium	Kouekong Stadium	Limbe Stadium
		Capacity: 30,000	Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 20,000

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of the stadium began at 10 a.m. with the setting up of the animation groups and the cultural activities which lasted till 2 p.m.^[24] Guests and officials were set up until the start of the opening match at 5 p.m. Among the guests were members of Confederation of African Football (CAF), members of the diplomatic corps, presidents of legislative and judicial institutions, members of government including the president of COCAN 2021 and the presidents of CAF and FIFA.

The set-up of officials ended by 4 p.m. with the arrival of the presidents of Comoros and Cameroon. After the performance of the hymns, the opening speech was made by Patrice Motsepe, CAF's president followed by the solemn opening of the competition by the President of the Republic of Cameroon, Paul Biya, after which a cultural parade of about an hour took place.

A cultural interlude representing the 4 cultural areas of Cameroon was presented with 500 young ambassadors and the mascot Mola who participated in the dance, the host artist, Fally Ipupa offered a performance.^[25] During this parade, a virtual lion appeared to viewers, this was set up by Belgian graphic designer Thibault Baras on an idea of ​​the creative company lib.^[26] Made in augmented reality and turned on a game engine, this lion is 16 meters long, 8 meters high and weighs a ton.^[27][28]

After the match, which took place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. there was a fireworks display.

Squads

Group stage

The top two teams of each group, along with the best four third-placed teams, advanced to the round of 16. All times are local, WAT (UTC+1).

Tiebreakers

Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 74):^[29]

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, if two teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were applied exclusively to these two teams;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Drawing of lots.

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cameroon (H)	3	2	1	0	7	3	+4	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Burkina Faso	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4[a]
3	Cape Verde	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4[a]
4	Ethiopia	3	0	1	2	2	6	−4	1

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Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Senegal	3	1	2	0	1	0	+1	5	Advance to knockout stage
2	Guinea	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4[a]
3	Malawi	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4[a]
4	Zimbabwe	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1	3

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Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Morocco	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Gabon	3	1	2	0	4	3	+1	5
3	Comoros	3	1	0	2	3	5	−2	3
4	Ghana	3	0	1	2	3	5	−2	1

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Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nigeria	3	3	0	0	6	1	+5	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Egypt	3	2	0	1	2	1	+1	6
3	Sudan	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1
4	Guinea-Bissau	3	0	1	2	0	3	−3	1

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Group E

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ivory Coast	3	2	1	0	6	3	+3	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Equatorial Guinea	3	2	0	1	2	1	+1	6
3	Sierra Leone	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2
4	Algeria	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1

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Group F

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mali	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Gambia	3	2	1	0	3	1	+2	7
3	Tunisia	3	1	0	2	4	2	+2	3
4	Mauritania	3	0	0	3	0	7	−7	0

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Ranking of third-placed teams

Pos	Grp	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	A	Cape Verde	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4	Advance to knockout stage
1	B	Malawi	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
3	F	Tunisia	3	1	0	2	4	2	+2	3
4	C	Comoros	3	1	0	2	3	5	−2	3
5	E	Sierra Leone	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2
6	D	Sudan	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1

Combinations of matches in the round of 16

The specific match-ups involving the third-placed teams depended on which four third-placed teams qualified for the round of 16:

Third-placed teams qualify from groups							1A vs	1B vs	1C vs	1D vs
A	B	C	D				3C	3D	3A	3B
A	B	C		E			3C	3A	3B	3E
A	B	C			F		3C	3A	3B	3F
A	B		D	E			3D	3A	3B	3E
A	B		D		F		3D	3A	3B	3F
A	B			E	F		3E	3A	3B	3F
A		C	D	E			3C	3D	3A	3E
A		C	D		F		3C	3D	3A	3F
A		C		E	F		3C	3A	3F	3E
A			D	E	F		3D	3A	3F	3E
	B	C	D	E			3C	3D	3B	3E
	B	C	D		F		3C	3D	3B	3F
	B	C		E	F		3E	3C	3B	3F
	B		D	E	F		3E	3D	3B	3F
		C	D	E	F		3C	3D	3F	3E

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and a penalty shoot-out will be used to decide the winner if necessary, except for the third place match, where a direct penalty shoot-out, without any extra time, is used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 75).

Bracket

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

23 January – Limbe

Burkina Faso (p)

1 (7)

29 January – Garoua

Gabon

1 (6)

Burkina Faso

1

23 January – Garoua

Tunisia

0

Nigeria

0

2 February – Yaoundé (Ahidjo)[note 2]

Tunisia

1

Burkina Faso

25 January – Bafoussam

Senegal

Senegal

2

30 January – Yaoundé (Ahidjo)[note 2]

Cape Verde

0

Senegal

3

26 January – Limbe

Equatorial Guinea

1

Mali

0 (5)

6 February – Yaoundé (Olembe)

Equatorial Guinea (p)

0 (6)

Winner Semi-final 1

24 January – Bafoussam

Winner Semi-final 2

Guinea

0

29 January – Douala

Gambia

1

Gambia

0

24 January – Yaoundé (Olembe)

Cameroon

2

Cameroon

2

3 February – Yaoundé (Olembe)

Comoros

1

Cameroon

26 January – Douala

Egypt

Third place play-off

Ivory Coast

0 (4)

30 January – Yaoundé (Ahidjo)[note 3]

6 February – Yaoundé (Ahidjo)

Egypt (p)

0 (5)

Egypt (a.e.t.)

2

Loser Semi-final 1

25 January – Yaoundé (Ahidjo)

Morocco

1

Loser Semi-final 2

Morocco

2

Malawi

1

Round of 16

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Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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Third place play-off

Final

Statistics

Goalscorers

There have been 90 goals scored in 48 matches, for an average of 1.88 goals per match (as of 30 January 2022). Players highlighted in bold are still active in the competition.

6 goals

5 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Final standings

Per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by a penalty shoot-out are counted as draws.

Pos.	Team	G	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	GF	GA	GD
1
2
3
4
Eliminated in the quarter-finals
5	Morocco	C	5	3	1	1	10	8	5	+3
6	Gambia	F	5	3	1	1	10	4	3	+1
7	Equatorial Guinea	E	5	2	1	2	7	3	4	−1
8	Tunisia	F	5	2	0	3	6	5	3	+2
Eliminated in the Round of 16
9	Nigeria	D	4	3	0	1	9	6	2	+4
10	Ivory Coast	E	4	2	2	0	8	6	3	+3
11	Mali	F	4	2	2	0	8	4	1	+3
12	Gabon	C	4	1	3	0	6	5	4	+1
13	Malawi	B	4	1	1	2	4	3	4	−1
14	Guinea	B	4	1	1	2	4	2	3	−1
15	Cape Verde	A	4	1	1	2	4	2	4	−2
16	Comoros	C	4	1	0	3	3	4	7	−3
Eliminated in group stage
17	Zimbabwe	B	3	1	0	2	3	3	4	−1
18	Sierra Leone	E	3	0	2	1	2	2	3	−1
19	Ghana	C	3	0	1	2	1	3	5	−2
20	Sudan	D	3	0	1	2	1	1	4	−3
21	Algeria	E	3	0	1	2	1	1	4	−3
22	Guinea-Bissau	D	3	0	1	2	1	0	3	−3
23	Ethiopia	A	3	0	1	2	1	2	6	−4
24	Mauritania	F	3	0	0	3	0	0	7	−7

Broadcasting

Below is the list of the 2021 AFCON broadcasting rights:^[35]

Territory	Rights holder(s)	Ref.
Algeria	EPTV	[36]
Brazil	Rede Bandeirantes	[35]
Cameroon	CRTV	[37]
France	beIN Sports	[35]
Germany	Sportdigital	[35]
Italy	Discovery Channel	[35]
Portugal	Canal 11	[38]
United Kingdom	BBC Sky Sports	[35]
Sub-Saharan Africa	Canal+ StarTimes SuperSport	[35]
MENA	beIN Sports	[35]
Asia-Pacific
North America
Latin America	ESPN	[35]
Northern Europe	NENT	[35]
Southeastern Europe	Sportklub	[35]
World	CAF TV (YouTube)	[35]

Controversies

Tunisia vs. Mali refereeing

In the first match of Group F between Tunisia and Mali, Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe ended the match in the 85th minute before changing his mind. He then signalled the end of the match in the 89th minute without calculating overtime, which would have been significant due to the large number of changes (9 changes between the two teams) and double verification of the video assistant referee.^[39]

However, the referee announced the return of the match after 25 minutes of stopping to complete 3 minutes, with the Tunisian team refusing to complete it. A forensic report stated that Sikazwe suffered heat stroke, which contributed to his mishandling of the match.^[40]

Mauritanian national anthem

Before the second match of Group F between Mauritania and Gambia, the old Mauritanian national anthem was played three times, the stadium announcer said that the Mauritanian players would sing the anthem themselves,^[41] but a third failed attempt was soon cut off after the old anthem of the country was played again.^[42]

Cameroon fans stampede

Before the fourth match in the knockout stage between hosts Cameroon and Comoros, which took place on 24 January 2022 at the Olembe Stadium, there was a violent stampede by the Cameroonian fans.^[43] The health card to enter the stadium from the south gate to watch the match, behind the stampede, eight deaths were recorded for two women and four men, all in their thirties, in addition to two children.^[44]

The ministry indicated that about 50 people were injured in the stampede, including two people with multiple injuries and two others with serious head injuries, and a baby was immediately transferred to the General Hospital in Yaounde in a medically stable condition.^[45]

Notes

References

External links

• 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Organizing Committee (in French)