AFCON: Previous winners

The Africa Cup of Nations was first held in 1957 and has expanded over time to its current format which sees 24 countries from the continent competing to be crowned kings of Africa every two years.

The tournament is sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football and, since 1968, it has usually taken place every two years, switching to being staged in odd-numbered years in 2013 but then going back to even-numbered years in 2022. 

Egypt are the record seven-time winners of AFCON, Cameroon are next on the list having won it five times, while a total of 15 different African nations have lifted the trophy and eight have won it once. 

Here is the complete list of every AFCON winner since 1957.

The 1950s

The inaugural Africa Cup of Nations was held in 1957 and only three countries took part - Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan - after South Africa were disqualified. Egypt won their first title, beating Ethiopia 4–0 in the final.

The second edition, in 1959, was hosted and won again by Egypt, who were competing as the United Arab Republic, a sovereign union between Egypt and Syria. 

The same three teams that played in 1957 participated in 1959 with United Arab Republic coming out on top in the round robin group format as they beat Ethiopia 4-0 and Sudan 2-1.

Year	Winners	Runners-up
1957	Egypt	Ethiopia
1959	United Arab Republic (Egypt)	Sudan

The 1960s

The first tournament of the 1960s took place in 1962 when hosts Ethiopia won the tournament for the first time, defeating UAR 4-2 after extra-time in the final.

Then, in 1963, Ghana won on home soil for their first AFCON title, and they successfully defended their crown in Tunisia two years later. In 1968, Congo-Kinshasa were African champions when they beat Ghana in the final in Ethiopia, which was the first eight-team tournament. 

Year	Winners	Runners-up
1962	Ethiopia	United Arab Republic (Egypt)
1963	Ghana	Sudan
1965	Ghana	Tunisia
1968	Congo-Kinshasa	Ghana

The 1970s

There were five AFCON tournaments in the 1970s, starting in 1970 when Sudan, as hosts, won by beating Ghana 1-0 in the final. Two years later in Cameroon, The People's Republic of Congo won the tournament for the first and only time, beating Mali in the final 3-2.

The 1974 AFCON was won by what was then known as Zaire (formely Congo-Kinshasa) as the country won the title for the second time. The final in Egypt against Zambia finished 2-2 but Zaire were 2-0 victors in the replay.

Morocco won what is their only AFCON so far in 1976, with Guinea the runners-up in the tournament played in Ethiopia.

Ghana triumphed again in 1978 for their third African title.

Year	Winners	Runners-up
1970	Sudan	Ghana
1972	PR Congo	Mali
1974	Zaire	Zambia
1976	Morocco	Guinea
1978	Ghana	Uganda

The 1980s

Nigeria won the first of their three AFCON crowns as hosts in 1980 when they beat Algeria 3-0 in the final. Then, two years later, it was Ghana again who were celebrating as they defeated hosts Libya on penalties 7-6 after a 1-1 draw in the final for their fourth continental title.

Cameroon won their first championship, beating Nigeria in the final 3-1 in Ivory Coast in 1984, before Egypt lifted their third African Cup of Nations trophy as hosts two years later. It was Cameroon's turn again though when they came out on top in Morocco in 1988.

Year	Winners	Runners-up
1980	Nigeria	Algeria
1982	Ghana	Libya
1984	Cameroon	Nigeria
1986	Egypt	Cameroon
1988	Cameroon	Nigeria

The 1990s

The first AFCON of the 1990s was staged in Algeria and it was to be another tournament in which the hosts were to triumph. In 1992, Ivory Coast were eventually crowned African champions after they beat Ghana 11-10 on penalties in the final, while in 1994 Nigeria won their second title in Tunisia.

South Africa was the venue for the 1996 tournament, which was again won by the host nation, and in 1998 Egypt won their fourth title, beating reigning champions South Africa in the final in Burkina Faso.

Year	Winners	Runners-up
1990	Algeria	Nigeria
1992	Ivory Coast	Ghana
1994	Nigeria	Zambia
1996	South Africa	Tunisia
1998	Egypt	South Africa

The 2000s

The first tournament of the new millennium was played in Ghana and Nigeria, who jointly replaced original hosts Zimbabwe, and Cameroon won their third AFCON, beating Nigeria in the final 4-3 on penalties. It was a similar story two years later in Mali when Cameroon again came out on top overall, this time beating Senegal on penalties after a goalless draw in the final. 

Tunisia were winners on home soil in 2004, before Egypt picked up their fifth AFCON as hosts two years later.

The 2008 tournament was staged in Ghana and Egypt successfully defended their crown, beating Cameroon in the final.

Year	Winners	Runners-up
2000	Cameroon	Nigeria
2002	Cameroon	Senegal
2004	Tunisia	Morocco
2006	Egypt	Ivory Coast
2008	Egypt	Cameroon

The 2010s

Egypt became the first country to win the African Cup of Nations three times in a row when they lifted their seventh title in Angola in 2010 but their dominance of the tournament was ended two years later when Zambia surprisingly won their first African title.

In 2013, Nigeria were the winners in South Africa and the 2015 edition went the way of Ivory Coast, who beat Ghana after another penalty shoot-out in the final, winning 9-8 on spot kicks.

In 2017 in Gabon, Cameroon picked up their fifth AFCON, denying Egypt yet another title in the final and the 2019 edition was won by Algeria, who beat Senegal 1-0 in the final.

Year	Winners	Runners-up
2010	Egypt	Ghana
2012	Zambia	Ivory Coast
2013	Nigeria	Burkina Faso
2015	Ivory Coast	Ghana
2017	Cameroon	Egypt
2019	Algeria	Senegal

The 2020s

The only tournament of the 2020s so far was staged in Cameroon in 2021 when Senegal won their first-ever African title. The final against Egypt ended goalless and Senegal won on penalties with Sadio Mane, who had missed a spot-kick in normal time, scoring the winner.

Ivory Coast got their hands on the trophy for a third time in 2024 in the most extraordinary circumstances. The host nation sacked head coach Jean-Louis Gasset midway through the tournament after they narrowly progressed through the group stage and interim coach Emerse Fae masterminded the Elephants' incredible run to AFCON glory.

Nigeria were ahead at half-time before goals from Franck Kessie and Sebastian Haller saw Ivory Coast stage an excellent comeback.

Year	Winners	Runners-up
2021	Senegal	Egypt
2023	Ivory Coast	Nigeria