1- coach has won the AFCON three consecutive times: Hassan Shehata (2006, 2008 and 2010)
1-Herve Renard is the only coach to win the Africa Cup of Nations with two different countries Zambia in 2012 and Ivory Coast in 2015.
3- teams will be making their Cup of Nations debut in this year’s edition: Burundi, Mauritania and Madagascar. That reduces to 13 the number of African countries never to have been represented at their continent’s showpiece tournament.
2 – persons are the only men to win the AFCON as both player and coach: Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary (1959 and 1998) and the late Stephen Keshi of Nigeria (1994 and 2013).
2- coaches have won the most titles in the anal of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON): CK Gyamfi of Ghana (1963, 1965 and 1982) and Hassan Shehata (2006, 2008 and 2010)
3 – final defeats in succession is the run that Ghana will be looking to end in Gabon. The Black Stars have been beaten in each of their last three appearances in the decider, losing out to Côte d’Ivoire in 1992, Egypt in 2010 and the Ivorians again in 2015. Ghana, who have competed in nine Cup of Nations finals – more than any other nation – last won the African title back in 1982.
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3 – teams have managed to win consecutive Cup of Nations titles: Ghana (1963, 1965), Cameroon (2000, 2002) and Egypt (2006, 2008, 2010). Côte d’Ivoire are bidding to become the fourth, having edged Ghana 9-8 in that mammoth penalty shoot-out in the 2015 final. Les Elephants have reached three Cup of Nations finals since the turn of the century and all three have been settled by spot-kicks.
5- is the number of times Egypt are hosting the rest of Africa in the competition, which is the highest.
5 – is the highest number of goals scored by a player in single AFCON game: This is held by Ivory Coast’s Laurent Pokou. He scored five goals as his side cruised to a 6-1 win over Ethiopia in the 1970 AFCON.
5- is the number of times Ghana have lost in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations: 1968, 1979, 1992, 2010 and 2015. This is the highest in the competition’s history.
7- is the number of times the Pharaohs of Egypt have been crowned champions of Africa. An unprecedented feat.
9 – is the highest scoring game in the Africa Cup of Nations. Egypt walloped Nigeria 6-3 in 1963 when the continent’s showpiece was staged in Ghana. Hassan Shazli netted four times and Ibrahim Reda got the other two for the Pharaohs in Kumasi. Egypt were 4-0 ahead at half-time and the next five goals came in the final 12 minutes of the match.
9- is the number of times Ghana and Egypt have played in the grand finale of the Africa Cup of Nations. The most in the Africa Cup of Nations.
9 – Nine former winners including holders Cote d’Ivoire have qualified for the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations. The others are Algeria (1990); Cameroon (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2017); Egypt (1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010); Ghana (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982); Morocco (1976); Congo (1968, 1974), South Africa (1996) and Tunisia (2004).
9- previous editions have been won by the host nation: Ethiopia (1962), Ghana (1963), Sudan (1970), Ghana (1978), Nigeria (1980), Egypt (1986, 2006), Algeria (1990), South Africa (1996) and Tunisia (2004).
9 – former winners including holders Cameroon have qualified for the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations. The others are Algeria (1990); Cameroon (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2017); Egypt (1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010); Ghana (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982); Morocco (1976); Congo (1968, 1974), South Africa (1996) and Tunisia (2004).
18- is the total number of goals scored by Cameroonian legend Samuel Eto’o Fils, which makes him the all-time top scorer in the competition.
23 – seconds is the fastest goal recorded in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). Egyptian Ayman used just 23 seconds to find the back of the net in 1994 against Gabon.
24 – Egypt has qualified for the final tournament the most times, 24, missing out on only eight editions. The full details are 1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1970, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2017 and 2019
36 – is the record number of games Rigobert Song played for Cameroon at eight different finals between 1996 and 2010. His record of eight different finals tournament appearances is shared with Ahmed Hassan, although the Egyptian was only a squad member in 1996 and did not play.
90 – is the record number of matches that Egypt have played at the Cup of Nations. They have also won the most number of games at the tournament (51) and scored the most goals (154).
99 – is the number of goals that were scored at the finals in Ghana in 2008 in a total of 32 games, which is the record tally for a tournament. At the last finals in Equatorial Guinea, the total was 68.
