African Cup Of Nations(AFCON) is Africa’s biggest football competition and is known to produce some of the biggest spectacles in world football.
The competition was formed on February 8, 1957 and ever since, it’s been to look forward to not only by football fans in Africa but also over the world.
Here are the amazing records
- Most Wins in the Tournament
The Pharaohs of Egypt hold the record for most tournament wins with a seven trophy haul. The triumphs came in the inaugural edition in 1957 and in these following years: 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, and 2010. They are also the only team to have won it 3 times in a row.
2. Most Appearances
The most appearances also go to Egypt who holds the record with twenty-two appearances spread over the time frame.
Ivory Coast is second on the list with 20 appearances. This leaves Egypt with three more appearances than their closest rivals.
This also boosts Egypt’s rating as one of the best and biggest football playing nations in Africa. To have been successful for that long is a testament to their strength at the tournament.
3. Highest Number of Goals Scored in a Tournament
The best scoring record in a single tournament is one that dates back to the 70s. To find this player, one needs to travel back in time to Egypt 1974.
Player name: Ndaye Mulamba of Zaire (now known as The Democratic Republic of Congo). This stern-looking unassuming striker scored all nine goals in 6 matches for Zaire; the highest to date in one tournament.
The closest player to him on the scorers’ list is Laurent Pokou of from the Ivory Coast who scored eight goals at Sudan 1970
Samuel Eto’o Fils of Cameroun holds the record for most goals in the tournament’s history with 18 goals.
His closest rivals are Laurent Pokou of Ivory Coast who is second on the list with 14 goals and Late Rashidi Yekini of The Green Eagles, later known as The Super Eagles of Nigeria coming in third-place with 13 goals.
5. Longest Penalty Shoot Outs Wins
Penalty kicks could be grueling and nail-biting. However, one country has made it a habit of winning long drawn penalty shoot-outs: The Ivory Coast.
Ivory Coast hold the record for the longest penalty shoot-out wins. In the final match of Senegal 1992, they defeated The Black Stars of Ghana 11-10 over 24 penalties kicks and
did same to the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon 12-11 over 24 penalties at the quarter-finals of the Egypt 2006.
The African Cup of Nations has been won 11 times by the tournament host. Egypt come out tops again in this category with 3 wins as host of the tournament.
Other winners are: Ghana with two wins, and Algeria, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa and Tunisia with a win apiece.
7. Biggest Ever Win
Three matches come in tied for first place in this category. Ethiopia 68 saw two of the biggest ever wins at the tournament as Guinea defeated Botswana in a group qualification match by this score which matched the Ivory Coast’s 6-1 win over Ethiopia in 1968.
The only other team to score six goals in a single game was Egypt who won 6-3 against Nigeria at the 1963 tournament.
8. Most Player Appearances
Strongman – Rigobert Song of Cameroon has appeared in more tournaments than any other player. He appeared in eight tournaments starting from 1996 till 2010 (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010).
To underline his unique place in Africa football history, he played in 35 consecutive matches for the Indomitable Lions. This is the longest appearance run by any single player.
Laurent Pokou of Ivory Coast sweeps this record for the most goals by one player in a single match. His five goals for in their 6-1 win over Ethiopia in 1968 is the only one achieved by a player at the tournament.
He finished as the top scorer tournament while his team didn’t win any accolades at the tournament.
10. Youngest Ever Player
The youngest ever player to appear at the African Nations Cup is Chiva Star Nzigou of Gabon.
He appeared at the 2000 tournament held in Nigeria with Gabon’s match against South Africa heralding him as the youngest player to appear at the tournament.
He was aged 16-years and 91 days old.Gabon however finished bottom of their group in and were eliminated at the group stage.
So these are the unique records you can find in the archives of the African Cup Of Nations. We are looking forward to seeing one of the splendid display of soccer in the AFCON 2017 which is being held in Gabon on the 14th of January.
