A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Copa Africana de Naciones 2015 Coupe d'Afrique des Nations 2015 Campeonato Africano das Nações de 2015 AFCON 2015 CAN 2015 | |
|---|---|
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| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Equatorial Guinea |
| Dates | 17 January – 8 February |
| Teams | 16 |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 4 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Ivory Coast (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Ghana |
| Third place |  DR Congo |
| Fourth place |  Equatorial Guinea |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Goals scored | 68 (2.13 per match) |
| Attendance | 617,374 (19,293 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Ahmed Akaïchi André Ayew Javier Balboa Thievy Bifouma Dieumerci Mbokani(3 goals each) |
| Best player(s) | Christian Atsu |
| Best goalkeeper | Sylvain Gbohouo |
| Fair play award | DR Congo |
The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and was held from 17 January to 8 February 2015.[1][2]
The tournament was initially scheduled to be hosted by Morocco who later demanded postponement of the event because of the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa;[3] subsequently Morocco was ruled out as a host country and replaced by Equatorial Guinea.[4]
Ivory Coast won the tournament for their second Africa Cup of Nations title, defeating Ghana 9–8 in a penalty shoot-out after the final finished goalless following extra time. The DR Congo came third and the hosts Equatorial Guinea fourth, while defending champions Nigeria did not qualify.
Host selection
Bids :
- Botswana[5] (withdrew)
- Cameroon[6] (withdrew)
- DR Congo[7] (withdrew)
- Guinea[8] (withdrew)
- Morocco[9] (selected as hosts for 2015)
- South Africa[10] (selected as hosts for 2017)
- Zambia[11] (withdrew)
- Zimbabwe[12] (withdrew)
CAF received 3 bids before 30 September 2010, the deadline, to host either the 2015 or 2017 Africa Cup of Nations from DR Congo, Morocco and South Africa. All three bids were originally put on a shortlist.[13] CAF then began an inspection procedure, on November and December 2010, intending to visit each bidding country to view stadiums, infrastructure, and football interest. They inspected the DR Congo first.[14] Shortly after the inspection, DR Congo informed CAF that they would be withdrawing their bids for both the 2015 and 2017 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.[15] Morocco was the next country to be inspected, with CAF visiting the country in early November 2010.[16] South Africa was inspected in December 2010.
On 29 January, during the 2011 CAF Super Cup, the CAF Board decided that Morocco would host the 2015 African Cup of Nations, while the 2017 edition would be held in South Africa.[17] The four Morocco host cities which were scheduled to host the tournament were Rabat, Marrakesh, Agadir and Tangier, as announced by the CAF Executive Committee on 23 September 2013.[18] Casablanca would serve as an alternative venue.[19]
Moroccan withdrawal
In October 2014, the government of Morocco requested a postponement of the tournament due to the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.[20] After the matter was discussed at the executive committee meeting on 2 November 2014, CAF decided to keep the date of the tournament, while also asking for a clarification from the Royal Moroccan Football Federation of whether they still wish to host the tournament.[21] On 8 November, Morocco failed to meet this deadline to confirm it would host the tournament.[22] Three days later CAF confirmed that Morocco would not host the tournament and a new host would be chosen from a list of countries which have expressed interest. Morocco, who had previously qualified as hosts, were disqualified from participation at the tournament.[3][23] CAF confirmed legal action against Morocco due to a contract signed in April 2014.[24] Moroccan Sports Minister Mohamed Ouzzine said that CAF had falsely accused his country of "refusing" to host the tournament when it wanted it postponed, and justified the decision by citing that the World Health Organization gives every country the right to protect its citizens.[24] On 6 February 2015, CAF announced that Morocco had been banned from the next two AFCON tournaments, fined 1 million US dollars, as well as demanding 9 million US dollars in compensation.[25][26] However, the ban was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, meaning Morocco could (and later did) enter the tournaments.[27]
Egypt, Ghana, South Africa and Sudan all declined to take over as hosts.[28] Angola, the hosts of the 2010 edition, were spoken of as a potential replacement due to existing stadia and infrastructure in the country. However, a member of the Angolan Football Federation stated that it could not be possible as the new government budget did not include any tournaments.[24]
On 14 November 2014, CAF announced that Equatorial Guinea would host the tournament.[4]
Qualification
Qualification for the tournament were made up of four stages, three preliminary rounds and a final group stage. The 21 best-ranked teams were given a bye to the group stage, while the next 26 teams began play in the second preliminary round, and four lowest ranked teams started at the first round. The three preliminary rounds were a series of playoffs, with the winners advancing.
51 nations entered the tournament (excluding initial hosts Morocco). It was the competitive debut of South Sudan. Djibouti and Somalia declined to enter.
Morocco would have automatically qualified as hosts; however, after their refusal to host, they were expelled from the tournament by the CAF.[3][23] Equatorial Guinea was chosen as the new host, and despite having played in the qualifiers and been disqualified due to fielding an ineligible player, they qualified for the tournament automatically.[4]
The defending champions Nigeria failed to qualify for the tournament.[29]
Qualified teams
The following sixteen teams qualified for the tournament.
| Country | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearance in tournament1–2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equatorial Guinea |
Hosts | 14 November 2014 | 1 (2012) |
 South Africa |
Group A winners | 15 November 2014 | 8 (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2013) |
| Congo |
Group A runners-up | 19 November 2014 | 6 (1968, 1972, 1974, 1978, 1992, 2000) |
 Algeria |
Group B winners | 15 October 2014 | 15 (1968, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2013) |
 Mali |
Group B runners-up | 19 November 2014 | 8 (1972, 1994, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013) |
 Gabon |
Group C winners | 15 November 2014 | 5 (1994, 1996, 2000, 2010, 2012) |
 Burkina Faso |
Group C runners-up | 15 November 2014 | 9 (1978, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2012, 2013) |
 Cameroon |
Group D winners | 15 November 2014 | 16 (1970, 1972, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010) |
| Ivory Coast |
Group D runners-up | 19 November 2014 | 20 (1965, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013) |
| Ghana |
Group E winners | 19 November 2014 | 19 (1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013) |
 Guinea |
Group E runners-up | 19 November 2014 | 10 (1970, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1994, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012) |
 Cape Verde |
Group F winners | 15 October 2014 | 1 (2013) |
 Zambia |
Group F runners-up | 15 November 2014 | 16 (1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013) |
| Tunisia |
Group G winners | 14 November 2014 | 16 (1962, 1963, 1965, 1978, 1982, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013) |
 Senegal |
Group G runners-up | 15 November 2014 | 12 (1965, 1968, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012) |
| DR Congo |
Best third placed team | 19 November 2014 | 16 (1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2013) |
- 1 Bold indicates champion for that year.
- 2 Italic indicates host for that year.
Venues
The four Equatorial Guinean cities selected to host the tournament were Malabo, Bata, Mongomo and Ebibeyin.[30]
Malabo and Bata were also host venues for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
Screening for Ebola was given to all spectators attending matches.[31]
| Bata | Malabo |
  Mongomo Bata Malabo Ebibeyin |
Mongomo | Ebibeyin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estadio de Bata | Estadio de Malabo | Estadio de Mongomo | Estadio de Ebibeyin | |
| Capacity: 41,000 | Capacity: 15,250 | Capacity: 15,000 | Capacity: 8,000 | |
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Format
Only the hosts got an automatic qualification spot, the other 15 teams qualified through qualification tournament. At the finals, the 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams each. The teams in each group played a single round robin. After the group stage, the top two teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal winners advanced to the semifinals. The semifinal losers played in the third place match, while the semifinal winners played in the final.[32]
Draw
The finals draw was held on 3 December 2014 in Malabo.[30][33] It was initially to be held on 26 November 2014 in Rabat before the change of host country.[1][34]
The 16 teams were divided into four pots based on the CAF Ranking, with the hosts Equatorial Guinea placed in Pot 1 automatically.[35] The ranking was computed using the teams' results in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers (weighted by 2), 2013 Africa Cup of Nations finals (weighted by 3) and qualifiers (weighted by 1), the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations finals (weighted by 2) and qualifiers (weighted by 0.5), the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations finals (weighted by 1), and the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[36]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
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Burkina Faso (40 pts) Mali (38 pts) Tunisia (32.5 pts) Algeria (28 pts)
|
Cape Verde (26.5 pts) South Africa (23.5 pts) Cameroon (23.5 pts) Gabon (22 pts)
|
Guinea (19 pts) Senegal (19 pts) DR Congo (18 pts) Congo (13 pts)
|
Match officials
The following referees were chosen for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
- Referees
Mehdi Abid Charef
Juste Ephrem Zio
Sidi Alioum
Noumandiez Doué
Gehad Grisha
Bamlak Tessema Weyesa
Eric Otogo-Castane
Bakary Gassama
Joseph Lamptey
Aboubacar Mario Bangoura
Hamada Nampiandraza
Koman Coulibaly
Ali Lemghaifry
Rajindraparsad Seechurn
Bouchaïb El Ahrach
Malang Diedhiou
Bernard Camille
Victor Gomes
Med Said Kordi
Janny Sikazwe
- Assistant referees
- Albdelhak Etchiali
Jerson Emiliano Dos Santos
Jean-Claude Birumushahu
Oamogetse Godisamang- Evarist Menkouande
- Yéo Songuifolo
Hassan Egueh Yacin- Tahssen Abo El Sadat Bedyer
Angesom Ogbamariam- Malik Alidu Salifu
- Aboubacar Doumbouya
Marwa Range- Redouane Achik
Yahaya Mahamadou
Peter Edibe
Theogene Ndagijimana- Djibril Camara
- El Hadji Malick Samba
- Zakhele Siwela
Ali Waleed Ahmed- Anouar Hmila
Squads
Each team could register a squad of 23 players.[32]
Group stage
The group winners and runners-up advance to the quarter-finals.
- Tiebreakers
The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[32]
- Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
- Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
- Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
- If, after applying criteria 1 to 3 to teams concerned, two or three teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between these teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 7 will apply;
- Goal difference in all games;
- Goals scored in all games;
- Drawing of lots.
Group A