2021 Africa Cup of Nations

2021 Africa Cup of Nations
Coupe d'Afrique des Nations 2022
Tournament details
Host country	Cameroon
Dates	9 January – 6 February 2022[1]
Teams	24 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	6 (in 5 host cities)

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 scheduled to be 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 scheduled to be hosted by Cameroon,[3] and will take place from 9 January to 6 February 2022.[1]

The tournament was originally scheduled to be played in June and July 2021 but the CAF announced on 15 January 2020 that due to unfavourable climatic conditions during this period, the tournament would take place from 9 January to 6 February 2021.[4] On 30 June 2020, the CAF moved the tournament 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 are the defending champions, having won the 2019 edition.

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.[9] However, CAF President Ahmad Ahmad said that Cameroon had agreed to host the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. 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
Cameroon	Hosts / Group F winners	8 January 2019	20th	2019	Winners (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2017)
Senegal	Group I winners	15 November 2020	16th	2019	Runners-up (2002, 2019)
Algeria	Group H winners	16 November 2020	19th	2019	Winners (1990, 2019)
Mali	Group A winners	17 November 2020	12th	2019	Runners-up (1972)
Tunisia	Group J winners	17 November 2020	20th	2019	Winners (2004)
Burkina Faso	Group B winners	24 March 2021	12th	2017	Runners-up (2013)
Guinea	Group A runners-up	24 March 2021	13th	2019	Runners-up (1976)
Comoros	Group G runners-up	25 March 2021	1st	None	Debut
Gabon	Group D runners-up	25 March 2021	8th	2017	Quarter-finals (1996, 2012)
Gambia	Group D winners	25 March 2021	1st	None	Debut
Egypt	Group G winners	25 March 2021	25th	2019	Winners (1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Ghana	Group C winners	25 March 2021	23rd	2019	Winners (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982)
Equatorial Guinea	Group J runners-up	25 March 2021	3rd	2015	Fourth place (2015)
Zimbabwe	Group H runners-up	25 March 2021	5th	2019	Group stage (2004, 2006, 2017, 2019)
Ivory Coast	Group K winners	26 March 2021	24th	2019	Winners (1992, 2015)
Morocco	Group E winners	26 March 2021	18th	2019	Winners (1976)
Nigeria	Group L winners	27 March 2021	19th	2019	Winners (1980, 1994, 2013)
Sudan	Group C runners-up	28 March 2021	9th	2012	Winners (1970)
Malawi	Group B runners-up	29 March 2021	3rd	2010	Group stage (1984, 2010)
Ethiopia	Group K runners-up	30 March 2021	11th	2013	Winners (1962)
Mauritania	Group E runners-up	30 March 2021	2nd	2019	Group stage (2019)
Guinea-Bissau	Group I runners-up	30 March 2021	3rd	2019	Group stage (2017, 2019)
Cape Verde	Group F runners-up	30 March 2021	3rd	2015	Quarter-finals (2013)
Sierra Leone	Group L runners-up	15 June 2021	3rd	1996	Group stage (1994, 1996)

Format

A total of 24 teams will compete in the final tournament. Only the hosts received an automatic qualification spot, with the other 23 teams qualifying through a qualification tournament. At the finals, the 24 teams will be drawn into six groups of four teams each. The teams in each group play a single round robin. After the group stage, the top two teams from each group and the four highest ranked third-placed teams will advance 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, was unveiled on 23 November 2021.

Match officials

The following referees were chosen for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.[17]

Referees

Mustapha Ghorbal
Hélder Martins Rodrigues de Carvalho
Joshua Bondo
Pacifique Ndabihawenimana
Blaise Yuven Ngwa
Mahmoud El Bana
Amin Omar
Bamlak Tessema Weyesa
Daniel Nili Laryea
Bakary Gassama
Peter Waweru
Andofetra Rakotojaona
Boubou Traore
Beida Dahane
Ahmad Imetehaz Heeralall
Rédouane Jiyed
Jean Jacques Ndala Ngambo
Salima Mukansanga
Maguette Ndiaye
Issa Sy
Bernard Camille
Victor Gomes
Sadok Selmi
Ismail Elfath
Janny Sikazwe

Assistant referees

Abdelhak Etchiali
Mokrane Gourari
Jerson Emiliano Dos Santos
Seydou Tiama
Nguegoue Elvis Guy Noupue
Atezambong Fomo Carine
Issa Yaya
Soulaimane Almadine
Tahssen Abo El Sadat
Abouelregal Mahmoud
Ahmed Hossam Taha
Sidibe Sidiki
Liban Abdourazak Ahmed
Gilbert Cheruiyot
Souru Phatsoane
Attia Amsaaed
Lionel Andrianantenaina
Azgaou Lahcen
Zakaria Brinsi
Mustapha Akarkad
Jermoumi Fatiha
Arsenio Maringula
Mahamadou Yahaya
Samuel Pwadutakam
Oliver Safari
Djibril Camara
El Hadj Malick Samba
James Fredrick Emile
Zakhele Thusi Siwela
Ibrahim Abdalla Mohamed
Hassani Khalil
Anouar Hmila
Dick Okello

Video assistant referees

CAF announced the video assistant referees [17]

Referees

Lahlou Benbraham
Abid Charef Mehdi
Drew Fischer
Mahmoud Mohamed Ashour
Samir Guezzaz
Adil Zourak
Bouchra Karboubi
Haythem Guirat

Draw

The final draw was originally scheduled to take place on 25 June 2021, but was postponed to 17 August 2021.[1][2][18] The 24 teams were drawn into six groups of four.

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.[19] 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.[20] 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.[21]

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

Group stage

The top two teams of each group, along with the best four third-placed teams, advance to the round of 16.

2021 AFCON group stage maps

All times are local, WAT (UTC+1).

Tiebreakers

Teams are 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 are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 74):[22]

Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams is still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are applied exclusively to this subset of teams;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Drawing of lots.

Group A

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	Cameroon (H)	Advance to knockout stage
2	Burkina Faso	Advance to knockout stage
3	Ethiopia	Possible knockout stage based on ranking
4	Cape Verde

First match(es) will be played on 9 January 2022. Source: CAF
(H) Host

9 January 2022