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 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.

Qualification

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. Tunisia, 2004's champion, qualified for the Cup of Nations by winning their group in the qualification process.

Participating teams

Squads

Venues

Draw

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.

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

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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Third-place match

Final

Goalscorers

5 goals

• Samuel Eto'o

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

CAF Team of the Tournament

Goalkeeper

• Essam El Hadary

Defenders

• Rigobert Song
• Wael Gomaa
• Emmanuel Eboué
• Taye Taiwo

Midfielders

• Stephen Appiah
• Mohamed Aboutrika
• Ahmed Hassan
• Pascal Feindouno

Forwards

• Didier Drogba
• Samuel Eto'o

Tournament rankings

See also

• Cairo
• Egyptian Soccer Cup

References

External links

• BBC coverage
• Details at RSSSF
• A guide to the teams