African football’s main tournament starts in just under three weeks.
AFCON 2025 will unusually start in December. Famous for taking place between January and February most years, it was supposed to happen in June-July. The idea was to break the usual conflicts between federations and clubs, as it always left teams weakened in a crucial part of the season.
However, Fifa revamped the Club World Cup and moved that into the middle of the year. As a result, for the first time ever, AFCON will happen during the festive period. In the end, most European teams will have to make do without their African stars anyway.
With the tournament just around the corner, let’s revisit its 10 most famous games in history.
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1. Zambia vs Ivory Coast – 2012 final
Zambia winning the Africa Cup of Nations title any year is already a surprise in itself. Doing it in 2012 against a star-studded Ivory Coast team – featuring the likes of Didier Drogba, Yaya and Kolo Toure, Gervinho, Salomon Kalou, Cheick Tiote and Didier Zokora makes it all the more impressive.
But they won it in Libreville, Gabon – where, 19 years earlier, a plane carrying their golden generation crashed. It was an emotional moment as the champions dedicated the title (which remains their only one in competition history) to the 1993 fallen heroes.
2. Zaire vs Zambia – 1974 final
This is not exactly a famous game, as it happened twice. The 1974 AFCON final is the only one that has ever featured a replay.
The penalty shootout wasn’t a thing back then and this was the first time a final ended in a draw after extra time. As a result, Zaire and Zambia played each other a second time and the Leopards came out on top following a 2-0 win.
3. Ivory Coast vs Ghana – 1992 final
Ivory Coast and Ghana met in the 1992 final and though the game ended in a goalless draw, what followed was much more fun.
Both teams combined to take an incredible 24 penalties, meaning that every single player had at least one attempt to score. The Elephants would eventually lift the trophy after winning the shootout 11-10.
4. Ivory Coast vs Ghana – 2015 final
This is another Ivory Coast title against Ghana, but in a completely different context. Both teams looked like the best ones throughout the whole tournament, cruising their way into the final.
In a replay of the 1992 decisive match, this one also ended 0-0 and the excitement was reserved for the penalty shootout.
Wilfried Bony and Junior Tallo both missed for the Elephants’ first two attempts, while Mubarak Wakaso and Jordan Ayew converted theirs for the Black Stars. However, Ivorian goalkeeper Boubacar Barry – who was only playing because first-choice shot-stopper Sylvain Gbohouo was injured – saved Ghana’s following shot from Afriyie Acquah. Frank Acheampong then missed his and the teams were level.
Both Ivory Coast and Ghana ended up having to send their keepers to the spot. Barry then saved Brimah Razak’s kick and made his to give his country the title.
The Elephants won under Herve Renard – who had beaten them with Zambia three years earlier.
5. Cameroon vs Nigeria – 2000 final
This was the first of Cameroon’s two AFCON titles in a row. Both went to penalties, but the first one remains one of the most controversial finals in international football history.
A 19-year-old Samuel Etoo put Cameroon up 1-0 and they quickly doubled their lead thanks to Patrick Mboma. Nigeria quickly recovered in the second half and were level in the 47th minute. Jay-Jay Okocha scored the equaliser via an absolute screamer from outside the box.
The Super Eagles thought they had scored on penalties with Victor Ikpeba – his effort hit the crossbar and touched the ground over the line. However, referee Mourad Daami ruled it out.
The Indomitable Lions won 4-3 on penalties and Nigerian fans stormed into the pitch rioting.
6. Egypt vs Ethiopia – 1957 final
The 1957 AFCON was the first ever edition of the tournament. Curiously, Egypt – who have the most titles in competition history (7) won it.
It also remains the largest margin of victory in an AFCON final to this day: 4-0. Four teams would initially participate, but South Africa were disqualified due to Apartheid.
This meant that Ethiopia got into the final without even playing and Sudan finished third without a third-place match. Egypt defeated Sudan 2-1 and Ethiopia 4-0 to become inaugural champions.
7. Egypt vs Ghana – 2010 final
More Egypt glory here, and in unprecedented fashion. The Pharaohs had won the previous two editions of the tournament and became the first team to win three in a row in 2010.
They had a perfect record in the group stage, winning three out of three, scoring seven goals and conceding just one.
The knockout stages didn’t prove much of a challenge for them: 3-1 vs Cameroon in the quarter final and 4-0 vs Algeria in the semifinal. Egypt faced Ghana in the final and won 1-0 thanks to an 85th-minute winner by Gedo.
They also dominated the awards, having the top scorer (Gedo with five goals), best player (Ahmed Hassan) and best goalkeeper (Essam El Hadary).
8. Senegal vs Egypt – 2021 final
This one broke Egyptian hearts. They met Senegal in the 2021 AFCON final, which took place in 2022.
The game became famous for putting Liverpool stars and teammates Sadio Mane and Mo Salah against each other. It also featured other players who were in the Premier League at the time, such as Edouard Mendy (Chelsea), Ismaila Sarr (Watford) and Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal). Kalidou Koulibaly also featured – possibly at the peak of his career at Napoli just before joining the Blues.
Mane missed a penalty in the 7th minute and there was not much else for the rest of the game. Both teams combined for just 20 shots across 120 minutes of football.
On penalties though, Mane made up for his miss early on and scored the penalty that won Senegal their first and only AFCON title so far. Salah didn’t even have the opportunity to take his.
9. Congo vs Mali – 1972 final
The 1972 AFCON final was one between two underdogs. Both Congo and Mali had underwhelming campaigns throughout the tournament and finished 2nd in their respective groups.
The Red Devils recorded one win, one draw and one loss, while the Eagles drew each of their three matches.
Both met in the decisive game and actually played the final with the most goals during 90 minutes in AFCON history. Congo won 3-2 and scored all their goals in a six-minute stretch after going 0-1 down in the first half. Mali had already featured in a goal fest in the semifinal, defeating Zaire 4-3 in extra time.
10. Nigeria vs Ivory Coast – 2023 final
Ivory Coast won the AFCON for the third time in 2023, but it wasn’t as easy or smooth as it may seem. They actually finished 3rd in their group, having to go through a play off phase before making it to the quarter finals.
They started things off with a 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau, but lost to Nigeria 0-1 and then were demolished by Equatorial Guinea 0-4. In the play off, they barely defeated Senegal on penalties, after Franck Kessie came off the bench to score an 86th-minute equaliser to make it 1-1.
The Elephants then survived the semifinal against Mali, with goalkeeper Yahia Fofana saving a 17th-minute penalty and now Sunderland man Simon Adingra scoring a 90th-minute leveller after Dorgeles Nene had put Mali 1-0 up in the 71st. They also played with 10 men since the end of the first half.
Still, Oumar Diakite made it 2-1 in stoppage time of extra time and was then sent off for taking off his shirt, as he had already picked up a yellow card. Hamari Traore also received a red card for Mali minutes later.
In the final, they came from behind to beat Nigeria – who had defeated them in the group stage. It was an emotional ride that ended with their third AFCON trophy.