The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt, from 20 January to 10 February. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. Egypt won its fifth championship, beating Ivory Coast in the final 4–2 in a penalty shootout after the regulation time had ended in a goalless draw.

Host selection

Bids:

  • Algeria
  • Egypt (selected as hosts)
  • Ivory Coast
  • Libya

The organization of the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was awarded to Egypt on 24 October 2002 by the CAF Executive Committee meeting in Cairo, Egypt. Voters had a choice among four countries : Algeria, Egypt, Ivory Coast and Libya.

This marks the fourth time that Egypt has hosted the African Cup after 1959, 1974 and 1986.

It also coincides with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of CAF.

Results
NationVotes
Egypt Egypt7
Libya Libya2
Algeria Algeria1
Ivory Coast Ivory Coast1
Total votes11

Qualification

A map of Africa showing the qualified nations, highlighted by stage reached.

For the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, qualification was done through the CAF's qualification process for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Whereas only the winner of each group qualified for the World Cup, the top 3 finishers in each of the five qualification groups gained entry into the Africa Cup of Nations. The exception was qualification group 3, which contained hosts Egypt. Since Egypt qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations automatically as the hosts, the final berth was instead awarded to the fourth-place finishers, Libya.

2006 also marked the first time that the defending champion did not automatically qualify for the finals, although title holders Tunisia did manage to qualify.

Participating teams

Squads

Venues

CairoAlexandriaPort SaidIsmailiaCairoPort Said
Cairo International StadiumCairo Military Academy StadiumPort Said Stadium
Capacity: 74,100Capacity: 25,500Capacity: 24,060
AlexandriaIsmailia
Haras El Hodoud StadiumAlexandria StadiumIsmailia Stadium
Capacity: 21,650Capacity: 19,676Capacity: 16,606

Draw

Croconile, the championship's official mascot

The draw for the final tournament took place on 20 October 2005 in Cairo. The 16 teams were split into four pots, with Pot 1 containing the top four seeded nations. Egypt, as hosts, were automatically seeded as the top team in Group A. Tunisia, the defending champions, were seeded as the top team in Group C. The remaining 14 teams were ranked based on their records in the three last editions of the competition.

Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4
Egypt (hosts) Tunisia (title holders) Cameroon NigeriaMorocco South Africa Senegal DR CongoGhana Ivory Coast Guinea TogoZambia Angola Zimbabwe Libya

Group stage

The top two teams of each group (highlighted in green) progress to the quarter-finals.

All times local: EET (UTC+2)

Group A

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Egypt (H)321061+57Advance to knockout stage
2Ivory Coast32014406
3Morocco302101−12
4Libya301215−41
Egypt3–0Libya
Mido 18' Aboutrika 22' A. Hassan 78'
Morocco0–1Ivory Coast
Drogba 39' (pen.)
Libya1–2Ivory Coast
Kames 42'Drogba 10' Y. Touré 74'
Egypt0–0Morocco
Egypt3–1Ivory Coast
Moteab 8', 69' Aboutrika 61'A. Koné 43'
Libya0–0Morocco

Group B

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Cameroon330071+69Advance to knockout stage
2DR Congo31112204
3Angola311145−14
4Togo300327−50
Cameroon3–1Angola
Eto'o 20', 39', 78'Flávio 31' (pen.)
Togo0–2DR Congo
Mputu 45' LuaLua 64'
Angola0–0DR Congo
Cameroon2–0Togo
Eto'o 68' Meyong 85'
Angola3–2Togo
Flávio 9', 38' Maurito 86'Kader 24' Mamam 67'
Cameroon2–0DR Congo
Geremi 31' Eto'o 33'

Group C

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Guinea330071+69Advance to knockout stage
2Tunisia320164+26
3Zambia310236−33
4South Africa300305−50
Tunisia4–1Zambia
Santos 35', 82', 90+3' Bouazizi 53'Chamanga 9'
South Africa0–2Guinea
S. Bangoura 78' O. Bangoura 88'
Zambia1–2Guinea
Tana 33'Feindouno 73' (pen.), 90+1'
Tunisia2–0South Africa
Santos 32' Benachour 58'
Tunisia0–3Guinea
O. Bangoura 16' Feindouno 70' Diawara 90+1'
Zambia1–0South Africa
C. Katongo 75'

Group D

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Nigeria330051+49Advance to knockout stage
2Senegal31023303
3Ghana310223−13
4Zimbabwe310225−33
Nigeria1–0Ghana
Taiwo 85'
Zimbabwe0–2Senegal
H. Camara 59' Ba 80'
Ghana1–0Senegal
Amoah 13'
Nigeria2–0Zimbabwe
Obodo 57' Mikel 60'
Nigeria2–1Senegal
Martins 79', 88'S. Camara 58'
Ghana1–2Zimbabwe
Adamu 90+2'Issah 60' (o.g.) Benjani 68'

Knockout stage

Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
3 February – Cairo
Egypt4
7 February – Cairo
DR Congo1
Egypt2
3 February – Alexandria
Senegal1
Guinea2
10 February – Cairo
Senegal3
Egypt (p)0 (4)
4 February – Cairo
Ivory Coast0 (2)
Cameroon1 (11)
7 February – Alexandria
Ivory Coast (p)1 (12)
Ivory Coast1
4 February – Port Said
Nigeria0Third place
Nigeria (p)1 (6)
9 February – Cairo
Tunisia1 (5)
Senegal0
Nigeria1

Quarter-finals

Guinea2–3Senegal
Diawara 24' Feindouno 90+5'Bouba Diop 61' Niang 83' H. Camara 90+3'
Egypt4–1DR Congo
A. Hassan 33' (pen.), 89' H. Hassan 39' Moteab 58'El-Saqqa 45+2' (o.g.)
Nigeria1–1 (a.e.t.)Tunisia
Obinna 6'Haggui 49'
Penalties
Yobo Taiwo Ayila Obinna Martins Mikel Enyeama Kanu6–5Namouchi Guemamdia Chedli Benachour Clayton Boumnijel Massaoud Bouazizi
Cameroon1–1 (a.e.t.)Ivory Coast
Meyong 95'B. Koné 92'
Penalties
Eto'o Geremi Atouba Kome Meyong Makoun Song Saidou Douala Bikey Hamidou Eto'o11–12Drogba K. Touré B. Koné Faé A. Koné Kouassi Romaric Boka Zokora Zoro Tizié Drogba

Semi-finals

Egypt2–1Senegal
A. Hassan 37' (pen.) Zaki 81'Niang 52'
Nigeria0–1Ivory Coast
Drogba 47'

Third place match

Senegal0–1Nigeria
Lawal 79'

Final

Egypt0–0 (a.e.t.)Ivory Coast
Penalties
A. Hassan Abdelwahab A.H. Ali Zaki Aboutrika4–2Drogba K. Touré B. Koné Eboué

Goalscorers

There were 73 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 2.28 goals per match.

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

CAF Team of the Tournament

Goalkeeper

Defenders

Midfielders

Forwards

Tournament rankings

Ranking criteria
For teams eliminated in the same knockout round, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the final rankings: Goal difference in round eliminated; Goals scored in round eliminated; If teams eliminated in the semi-finals or quarter-finals are tied, the above criteria are reapplied for the previous knockout round, with this process repeated once more should two semi-finalists remain tied; Points in group stage; Goal difference in group stage; Goals scored in group stage; Disciplinary points. For teams eliminated in the group stage, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the final rankings: Position in group; Points; Goal difference; Goals scored; Disciplinary points.
Pos.TeamGPldWDLPtsGFGAGD
1EgyptA642014123+9
2Ivory CoastA63211165+1
3NigeriaD64111373+4
4SenegalD6204678−1
Eliminated in the quarter-finals
5CameroonB43101082+6
6GuineaC4301994+5
7TunisiaC4211775+2
8DR CongoB4112436−3
Eliminated in the group stage
9AngolaB3111445−1
10ZambiaC3102336−3
11GhanaD3102323−1
12ZimbabweD3102325−3
13MoroccoA3021201−1
14LibyaA3012115−4
15TogoB3003027−5
16South AfricaC3003005−5

See also

External links