From the humble beginnings of a 3-team tournament in Khartoum in 1957, the African Cup of Nations has grown into a major event. 52 national teams take part in an 18 month long qualification campaign for the right to be one of the successful 16 teams that will contest the finals that take place every two years. Today there are very few parts of the African continent not touched by this great event.

It is also the one tournament that allows African football fans to see the top African stars in action right here on their own continent. While most fans only ever get to see players like George Weah, Abedi Pele, Benni McCarthy, Jay Jay Okocha, Al Hadji Diouf, Patrick Mboma, Samuel Eto’o Fils or Kalusha Bwalya on the occasional TV broadcast of the European league action, we can always be sure that most of the top stars will come back to pull on their national team jerseys with pride and play their part in this great tournament.

It is at the MTN African Cup of Nations that we can have the luxury of sitting back and appreciating the full range of African skill and talent, right here in our own backyard.

It is an event that is unique on our continent in that there is nothing in Africa that brings Africans together quite like the MTN African Cup of Nations does. It is a very special African event that celebrates so much that is great and positive about the game of football on our continent. It speaks to us across the barriers of language, religion and ideology. It makes us feel proud to be part of a continent that has produced so many heroes and legends in the past and continues to strive for greatness in the future.

Looking back over the years since the 10th February 1957, the statistics show us both a tournament that has grown in stature as well as a roll-call of legendary players and heroic teams that have left their mark on the competition. One thinks of the great Ghanaian and Egyptian sides that won 4 of the first 5 tournaments between them before the likes of Cameroon, Nigeria and the DRC (previously Congo Kinshasa or Zaire) became the teams to beat. To date, Egypt, Ghana and Cameroon share the record for the most Nations Cup titles with 4 each, followed by Nigeria and the DRC on two trophies each.

The format of the first tournament in 1957 – a round robin of matches between the three competing teams Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia – was repeated two years later in 1959, with the Egyptians once again coming out on top. The format was changed in 1962 as the four entrants – Ethiopia, Tunisia, Uganda and Egypt – played a set of semifinals with the winners playing each other in the finals. But it was in the 1963 event that the blueprint for the future editions of the tournament was put in place with the six competing nations (Ghana, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Nigeria and Sudan) drawn up into two groups of 3 with the group winners qualifying for the final, a format repeated in 1965. In 1968, with more countries now wanting to be a part of tournament, preliminary qualification rounds were held for the first time, which saw 6 teams qualifying for the finals along with hosts Ethiopia and holders Ghana.

This became the format for the finals until 1976, when the top two teams in each group qualified for a second phase mini league, with the team finishing top of the league declared the winner. This format was not deemed a success and in 1978 the format for the finals reverted to the system used prior to 1976. This remained in place until the 1992 event in Senegal, when 8 qualification groups produced 10 finalists plus hosts Senegal and holders Algeria. The 12 teams were divided into four groups of 3 with the top 2 team in each group going into the quarterfinals and following the more familiar route to the trophy from then on. This format has been in use ever since with the only change being made for the 1996 tournament in South Africa, when the number of qualifiers was increased from 10 to 14 (plus the host and holders) for the current total of 16 teams in the finals.

One can also reflect on the many great players who have made an impact in the tournament over the years, such as the Ivory Coast’s Laurent Poukou, Mali’s Salif Keita, the DRC legend Mulamna Ndaye who hold the record for the most number of goals in a single tournament, putting 9 into the back of the net during the 1974 edition. The 1980s saw the making of all time greats Roger Milla of Cameroon, the tournament’s top scorer in 1986 and joint top scorer, along with Algeria’s Lakhdar Belloumi and the Ivory Coast’s Abdoulaye Traore, in 1988, not to mention other great African stars who have thrilled the fans such as Rashidi Yekini of Nigeria, Kalusha Bwalya of Zambia, Hossam Hassan of Egypt, Mark Fish and Benni McCarthy of South Africa and, more recently, Augustine ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha of Nigeria who was voted Player of the Tournament during the 2004 event in Tunisia.

With qualifying for the 2006 MTN African Cup of Nations in Egypt well under way, we can be sure to expect more great action, courage and determination from teams and players that will thrill the thousands of passionate fans filling the stadiums of Egypt, or the millions watching the games back home.
 

Source: mtnfootball.com