Great moments in Afcon history |20 January 2024

1957: Afco is born

The very first Afcon was held in Sudan, where the hosts were joined by just Egypt and Ethiopia in a three-team tournament. Along with South Africa, they were the founding nations of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) that year, but South Africa could not participate due to their apartheid policy.

Egypt’s Raafat Attia, who would go on to become a two-time Olympian at Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964, was the tournament’s first-ever scorer, netting in the 2-1 semifinal win over Sudan.

Veteran striker Mohamed Diab Al-Attar, better known as Ad-Diba, then took the headlines in the final with a hat-trick as Egypt beat Ethiopia 4-0.

It would be the first of a record seven Afcon titles for the north African nation.

1974: Unstoppable Mulamba and the final played twice

Imagine scoring twice in the Afcon final, including in the 117th minute after the match has gone to extra time, and then having to go and do it all again.

Well, that was the case for Ndaye Mulamba of Zaire (now DR Congo) as Zambia scored an equaliser in the 120th to send the final to a replay.

Remarkably, Mulamba went and did it again, scoring twice as this time Zaire kept a clean sheet to win 2-0.

He ended the tournament with nine goals, still the record for a single Afcon edition, although Vincent Aboubakar went close at Afcon 2021 with eight for Cameroon.

The Leopards also qualified for the World Cup that year, becoming the first African nation to do so since Egypt in 1934. But promised bonuses from the government for making the finals in West Germany failed to materialise and they almost went on strike.

Zaire were well beaten in all three of their matches and, in protest at their plight late on in final game, Mwepu Ilunga provided an oft-replayed World Cup moment when he kicked the ball away as Brazil prepared to take a free-kick.

Banned from playing abroad, and with the government cutting funding for the national team, most of the squad would end up in poverty. They have not qualified for the World Cup nor reached the Afcon semifinals again since.

1993-94: Zambia’s strength

Zambia may have lost the Afcon 1994 final to Nigeria but their story is one of the most powerful in sporting history.

A young Zambian side had reached the knockout stages of the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games, beating Italy in the group stages, before finishing third at Afcon 1990.

But tragedy struck in 1993, as a flight bound for a 1994 World Cup qualifier in Dakar, Senegal, crashed shortly after a stopover in Gabon. It was carrying 18 members of the Zambian men's national team, and they were among the 30 fatalities in an accident with no survivors.

Those 18 were immortalised with a memorial outside Zambia’s Independence Stadium, while somehow a new team was assembled to compete in the remaining World Cup qualifiers and then Afcon 1994.

Led by PSV Eindhoven striker Kalusha Bwalya, who was not on the flight due to being based in Europe, this team would somehow reach the Afcon final in Tunisia. Imposing central defender Elijah Litana headed them in front early on, but two goals from Emmanuel Amunike saw Nigeria secure a second crown.

Eighteen years later, Zambia did claim a first Afcon title against the odds. The 2012 final was in Libreville, Gabon, close to the sight of the 1993 plane crash with the victors dedicating their triumph to the fallen squad.

2000: Cameroon do the double

Nigeria may have been the first African nation to win both Afcon and Olympic gold, but Cameroon were the first to do it in the same year.

Back in 2000, striker Samuel Eto’o – who would go on to star for Barcelona and Inter Milan – was joined by Patrick M'Boma, Lauren, Daniel Bekono, Geremi and Pierre Womé in recording this unprecedented feat – 10 years on from becoming the first African nation to reach the Fifa World Cup quarterfinals.

First it was Afcon glory, with Cameroon beating Nigeria 4-3 in the penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw in the final, and then in September at Sydney 2000 they beat Spain in the gold medal match.

Once again, the match finished 2-2. And again Cameroon won on penalties, this time 5-3 to make history. It was Cameroon’s first-ever Olympic title before triple-jumper Françoise Mbango Etone won gold at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

2000-2010: The era of Eto’o

Speaking of Eto’o, no Afcon list is complete without a section dedicated to the tournament’s all-time top scorer and the poster boy of the competition for the best part of a decade.

In an international career spanning from 1997 to 2014, Eto’o scored 18 Afcon goals across six editions between 2000 and 2010.

That included glory in 2000 and a successful title defence in 2002.

Near misses followed - runners-up in 2008 and three runs to the quarterfinals in 2004, 2006, and 2010 - and his Afcon career ended there with Cameroon failing to qualify for the next two tournaments.

He remains one of just four players to score in six Afcons, the others being by Ghanaian duo Asamoah Gyan and Andre Ayew, and Zambia’s Kalusha Bwalya. No player has scored in seven.

2010: The joy of four for Egypt duo

Ahmed Hassan and goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary stand together in winning a record four Afcon titles, the first in 1998 before the Pharaohs secured a 'three-peat' in 2006, 2008 and then 2010.

The final triumph is Egypt’s most recent to date – something Mohamed Salah would like to put straight – with Hassan at the heart of that victory as the player of the tournament.

In a memorable quarterfinal against Cameroon, captain Hassan headed past a stranded El-Hadary into his own net before scoring two spectacular long-range goals in a 3-1 victory.

Hassan lies fourth in the all-time list of men’s international appearances, while goalkeeper El Hadary went on to become the oldest player to feature at Afcon at 44 years and 21 days when playing in the 2017 final defeat to Cameroon.

2012 and 2015: That man Renard

Few managers are as synonymous with Afcon in the modern era as Hervé Renard, whose white shirts became a familiar sight on the sidelines.

But the current coach of the French women’s national team was more than just a white shirt, becoming the first manager to win the title with two different nations.

First it was Zambia's triumph in 2012 during his second stint as boss. That was a shock victory given they were ranked 71st in the world and eighth among African teams at the time.

Renard then guided Côte d'Ivoire to glory in 2015 after they were runners-up in 2006 and 2012. Boasting stars like captain Yaya Toure, his brother Kolo, Gervinho and Serge Aurier, the Frenchman played his role in the Ivorians finally getting their hands on the trophy after a 9-8 penalty shootout win over Ghana.

2021: Mane ends Senegal's long wait

For a slice of recent history, one only needs to go back to 2021 tournament (held in January 2022) when Senegal won their first-ever Afcon title.

Such was the overdue nature of that triumph that there were moments beforehand where many believed the Lions of Teranga were cursed.

Senegal were runners-up in both 2002 and 2019, but Sadio Mané stepped up to make sure his country avoid a third Afcon final defeat.

Despite missing a penalty in normal time against Egypt, and then-Liverpool teammate Salah, he would go on to score the decisive spot-kick in the shootout and secure glory at last.

Mane would be crowned African Footballer of the Year later for 2022, and finished second in the Ballon d’Or behind Karim Benzema.