2008 Africa Cup of Nations

The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated with the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament was staged at four venues around Ghana between 20 January and 10 February 2008. This was the last Africa Cup of Nations to use the old CAF logo.

Egypt won the tournament, beating Cameroon 1–0 in the final. As winners, they qualified for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup as the CAF representatives.

Host selection
Bids:
 * Ghana (selected as hosts) 
 * Libya
 * South Africa (withdrew)

The organization of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations was awarded to Ghana on 8 July 2004 by the CAF Executive Committee members which are 12 in Cairo, Egypt. Voters had a choice between Ghana and Libya which was disadvantaged by the fact that two countries in the North Africa region had already hosted the last two editions (Tunisia in 2004, and Egypt in 2006).

South Africa, also a candidate at the start, eventually withdrew in May 2004 after being nominated for the organization of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

This was the fourth time that Ghana hosted the African Cup after 1963, 1978 and 2000 (jointly with Nigeria).

Qualification
The entrants were divided into 12 groups. All group winners and the best three runners-up from groups with four teams (groups 2-11) qualified for the finals. Host Ghana qualified automatically. Qualifying took place between 2 September 2006 and 13 October 2007.

Teams



 * 🇬🇭 ghana – Host, 16th appearance (4 titles)
 * 🇨🇮 côte d'ivoire – Group 1 winner, 17th appearance (1 title)
 * 🇪🇬 egypt – Group 2 winner, 21st appearance (5 titles)
 * 🇳🇬 nigeria – Group 3 winner, 15th appearance (2 titles)
 * – Group 4 winner, 7th appearance (1 title)
 * 🇨🇲 cameroon – Group 5 winner, 15th appearance (4 titles)
 * – Group 6 winner, 4th appearance
 * 🇸🇳 senegal – Group 7 winner, 11th appearance
 * – Group 8 winner, 9th appearance
 * 🇲🇱 mali – Group 9 winner, 5th appearance
 * 🇳🇦 namibia – Group 10 winner, 2nd appearance
 * – Group 11 winner, 13th appearance
 * 🇲🇦 morocco – Group 12 winner, 14th appearance (1 title)
 * 🇹🇳 tunisia – Group 4 runner-up, 13th appearance (1 title)
 * 🇧🇯 benin – Group 9 runner-up, 2nd appearance
 * – Group 11 runner-up, 7th appearance (1 title)

Tournament ball
During the previous editions of the Africa Cup of Nations, the ball used was not a ball especially made for the tournament. As the tournament was held on even years, the same years big tournaments such as the UEFA European Championships or the FIFA World Cup were held, the official ball for the tournament held this year was used for the African Cup of Nations: the Adidas Roteiro in 2004, or the Adidas Teamgeist in 2006. However, for the 2008 tournament, Adidas made a special ball, clearly different from the Adidas Europass going to be used five months later for the Euro. The ball was named Wawa Aba and was designed to include host nation Ghana's red, yellow and green. The ball was later used for the other African competitions.

For the Akan culture originating from Western Africa, one of the Adinkra symbols named Wawa Aba is a symbol of hardiness, toughness, and perseverance. People there particularly believe in the strength and team spirit of a community. The Wawa Aba literally means "seed(s) of Wawa tree (Triplochiton scleroxylon)”, one of the strongest and most processible woods of Africa and whose seeds are very hard. For the population, the Wawa Aba mainly has mystical significance. These are people who don't let failure discourage them, who seize all opportunities successfully and who are thus just as strong and adaptable as the Wawa Aba.

Match officials
16 referees and 16 assistant referees were selected for the tournament, including two from Japan and one from South Korea.

Draw
The draw for the tournament took place on 19 October 2007 in Accra. The sixteen teams were divided into four pots according to their performances in past Cup of Nations tournaments. Ghana, as hosts, were automatically seeded as the top team in Group A. Egypt, the defending champions, were seeded as the top team in Group C. Tunisia and Nigeria had the two strongest records and so completed the top seeded Pot 1. Each group consists of four teams, one drawn from each of the pots.

Tie-breaking criteria
Where two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria:
 * 1) points earned in the matches between the teams concerned;
 * 2) goal difference in the matches between the teams concerned;
 * 3) number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
 * 4) goal difference in all group matches;
 * 5) number of goals scored in all group matches;
 * 6) drawing of lots by the organizing committee.

All times given as local time (UTC+0)

Player of the tournament

 * 🇪🇬 Hosny Abd Rabo

Top scorer

 * 🇨🇲 Samuel Eto'o – 5 goals

Best Goalkeeper

 * 🇪🇬 Essam El-Hadary

Best XI
The following players were selected as the best in their respective positions, based on their performances throughout the tournament. Their performances were analysed by the tournament's Technical Study Group (TSG), who picked the team.


 * Substitutes
 * 🇬🇭 Richard Kingson
 * 🇪🇬 Hany Said
 * 🇪🇬 Ahmed Fathy
 * 🇹🇳 Saber Ben Frej
 * 🇨🇲 Stéphane Mbia
 * 🇨🇮 Didier Drogba
 * 🇨🇮 Kader Keïta

Goalscorers

 * 5 goals


 * 🇨🇲 Samuel Eto'o


 * 4 goals


 * Manucho
 * 🇪🇬 Hosny Abd Rabo
 * 🇪🇬 Mohamed Aboutrika
 * 🇪🇬 Amr Zaki


 * 3 goals


 * 🇨🇮 Didier Drogba
 * 🇨🇮 Salomon Kalou
 * 🇨🇮 Kader Keïta
 * 🇨🇮 Boubacar Sanogo
 * 🇬🇭 Junior Agogo
 * 🇬🇭 Sulley Muntari
 * 🇲🇦 Soufiane Alloudi


 * 2 goals


 * 🇨🇲 Geremi
 * 🇨🇲 Joseph-Désiré Job
 * 🇨🇲 Stéphane Mbia
 * 🇪🇬 Mohamed Zidan
 * 🇬🇭 Michael Essien
 * Pascal Feindouno
 * 🇳🇦 Brian Brendell
 * 🇳🇬 Yakubu
 * Elrio van Heerden
 * 🇹🇳 Chaouki Ben Saada
 * 🇹🇳 Francileudo dos Santos
 * Chris Katongo


 * 1 goal


 * Flávio
 * 🇧🇯 Razak Omotoyossi
 * 🇨🇲 Achille Emana
 * 🇨🇲 Alain N'Kong
 * 🇨🇮 Aruna Dindane
 * 🇨🇮 Bakari Koné
 * 🇨🇮 Yaya Touré
 * 🇨🇮 Marco Zoro
 * 🇪🇬 Ahmed Fathy
 * 🇬🇭 Haminu Dramani
 * 🇬🇭 Asamoah Gyan
 * 🇬🇭 Quincy Owusu-Abeyie
 * Ismaël Bangoura
 * Oumar Kalabane
 * Souleymane Youla
 * 🇲🇱 Frédéric Kanouté
 * 🇲🇦 Hicham Aboucherouane
 * 🇲🇦 Abdeslam Ouaddou
 * 🇲🇦 Tarik Sektioui
 * 🇲🇦 Monsef Zerka
 * 🇳🇬 Mikel John Obi
 * 🇸🇳 Moustapha Bayal Sall
 * 🇸🇳 Henri Camara
 * 🇸🇳 Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye
 * 🇸🇳 Diomansy Kamara
 * Katlego Mphela
 * 🇹🇳 Yassine Chikhaoui
 * 🇹🇳 Issam Jemâa
 * 🇹🇳 Mejdi Traoui
 * James Chamanga
 * Felix Katongo
 * Jacob Mulenga


 * Own goals
 * Mohammed Ali El Khider (playing against Cameroon)

Tournament rankings

 * colspan="11"| Eliminated in the quarter-finals
 * colspan="11"| Eliminated in the quarter-finals


 * colspan="11"| Eliminated in the group stage
 * colspan="11"| Eliminated in the group stage


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