| Founded | 2007 |
|---|---|
| Region | Africa (CAF) |
| Number of teams | 16 |
| Current champions | Tunisia (2011) |
| Most successful team | Congo DR Tunisia (1 title) |
| 2011 African Championship of Nations | |
The African Nations Championship (sometimes referred to as African Championship of Nations or CHAN) is a football tournament which was first announced on 11 September 2007[1] It is administered by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and is played between the best national teams of Africa, exclusively featuring players who are active in the national championships and qualified to play in the ongoing season. Expatriate players, regardless of where they play, even in Africa, may not qualify to take part in the African Championship of Nations.
The first tournament was held in 2009. It was hosted by Côte d'Ivoire and won by The Democratic Republic of the Congo. The competition was expanded to 16 teams for the second tournament, held in Sudan in 2011.[2] The tournament was won by Tunisia, in the wake of the Tunisian Revolution.[3]
The tournament is held every two years, alternating with the Africa Cup of Nations. The qualifying phase takes place every even year and the final every odd year.
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The creation of the African Nations Championship was a response to the desire to revive or strengthen national competitions regularly weakened by a mass exodus of top players who leave their home countries to play for foreign teams which will pay more and get them more media coverage.
CAF hopes that the players in the national competitions can experience the joy of the selection, and to one day integrate the selection with that of the Cup of African Nations.
The eight tournament spots are allocated the following way:
Now 16 teams qualified for the tournement.
Only one team can qualify for the tournament from each group, the exception being South Zone which is allowed two teams. The competition hosts automatically qualify. In total, eight nations will compete in the full tournament.
Once qualified for the competition, there are two Pools — A and B — drawn at random; each pool consists of four nations.
The third- and fourth-placed teams in each pool are eliminated. The winner of group A plays the runner up of group B, and the winner of group B plays the runner up of group A. A third place playoff is played between the two nations who lost the semifinal games.
The final match is played between the winners of the semifinal games.
On 8 March 2009, Democratic Republic of the Congo defeated Ghana 2–0[5] to become the first winner of the tournament.
| Year | Host nation | Final | Third Place Match | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | Score | Second Place | Third Place | Score | Fourth Place | ||||
| 2009 Details |
Cote d'Ivoire | Congo DR |
2 – 0 | Ghana |
Zambia |
2 – 1 | Senegal |
||
| 2011 Details |
Sudan | Tunisia |
3 – 0 | Angola |
Sudan |
1 – 0 | Algeria |
||
| 2014 Details |
South Africa | – | – | ||||||
| 2016 Details |
Rwanda | – | – | ||||||
| Team | Champions | Runners-up | Third-place | Fourth-place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congo DR | 1 (2009) | - | - | - |
| Tunisia | 1 (2011) | - | - | - |
| Angola | - | 1 (2011) | - | - |
| Ghana | - | 1 (2009) | - | - |
| Sudan | - | - | 1 (2011) | - |
| Zambia | - | - | 1 (2009) | - |
| Algeria | - | - | - | 1 (2011) |
| Senegal | - | - | - | 1 (2009) |
| Appearances | Nation |
|---|---|
| 2 | Côte d'Ivoire Congo DR Ghana Senegal Zimbabwe |
| 1 | Algeria Angola Cameroon Gabon Libya Mali Niger Rwanda South Africa Sudan Tanzania Tunisia Uganda Zambia |
| Team | 2009 |
2011 |
2014 |
2016 |
Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria | 4th | 1 | |||
| Angola | 2nd | 1 | |||
| Cameroon | QF | 1 | |||
| Congo DR | 1st | QF | 2 | ||
| Côte d'Ivoire | GS | GS | 2 | ||
| Gabon | GS | 1 | |||
| Ghana | 2nd | GS | 2 | ||
| Libya | GS | 1 | |||
| Mali | GS | 1 | |||
| Niger | QF | 1 | |||
| Rwanda | GS | 1 | |||
| Senegal | 4th | GS | 2 | ||
| South Africa | QF | 1 | |||
| Sudan | 3rd | 1 | |||
| Tanzania | GS | 1 | |||
| Tunisia | 1st | 1 | |||
| Uganda | GS | 1 | |||
| Zambia | 3rd | 1 | |||
| Zimbabwe | GS | GS | 2 | ||
| Total |
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