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1976 African Cup of Nations

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1976 African Cup of Nations
1976 የአፍሪካ ዋንጫ
Tournament details
Host countryEthiopia
Dates29 February – 14 March
Teams8
Venues2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Morocco (1st title)
Runners-up Guinea
Third place Nigeria
Fourth place Egypt
Tournament statistics
Matches played18
Goals scored54 (3 per match)
Top scorer(s)Guinea Mamadou Aliou Keïta
(4 goals)
Best playerMorocco Ahmed Faras
← 1974
1978 →

The 1976 African Cup of Nations was the tenth edition of the African Cup of Nations, the international football championship run by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It was hosted by Ethiopia. The format of competition changed from 1974: the field of eight teams was still split into two groups of four, but a final stage was introduced with the top two finishers of each of the first stage groups, in the form of a semi-final and a final. This was the same approach that would follow in the 1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cups.

Morocco won its first championship by topping the final group. Guinea finished second.

Until Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda won a joint bid to host the 2027 edition of the tournament, this was the last edition to be held in East Africa.[1]

Qualified teams

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The 8 qualified teams were:

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament[a]
 EthiopiaHosts7 (1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1970)
 ZaireHolders14 March 19745 (1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974)
 Morocco2nd round winners13 July 19751 (1972)
 Guinea2nd round winners17 July 19752 (1970, 1974)
 Nigeria2nd round winners27 July 19751 (1963)
 Egypt2nd round winners1 August 19756 (1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1970, 1974)
 Sudan2nd round winners15 August 19755 (1957, 1959, 1963, 1970, 1972)
 Uganda2nd round winners15 August 19753 (1962, 1968, 1974)
Notes
  1. ↑ Bold indicates champion for that year, Italic indicates host.

Squads

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Venues

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First round

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Tiebreakers

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If two or more teams finished level on points after completion of the group matches, the following tie-breakers were used to determine the final ranking:

  1. Goal difference in all group matches
  2. Greater number of goals scored in all group matches
  3. Drawing of lots

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Guinea 3 2 1 0 5 3 +2 5 Advance to Final round
2  Egypt 3 1 2 0 4 3 +1 4
3  Ethiopia (H) 3 1 1 1 4 3 +1 3
4  Uganda 3 0 0 3 2 6 −4 0
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Ethiopia 2–0 Uganda
Sheferahu 2'
Seyoum 83'
Attendance: 30,000
Egypt 1–1 Guinea
Basri 43' B. Sylla 44' (pen.)
Attendance: 30,000
Ethiopia 1–1 Egypt
Ali 46' Shehata 26'
Attendance: 25,000

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Morocco 3 2 1 0 6 3 +3 5 Advance to Final round
2  Nigeria 3 2 0 1 6 5 +1 4
3  Sudan 3 0 2 1 3 4 −1 2
4  Zaire 3 0 1 2 3 6 −3 1
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Nigeria 4–2 Zaire
Mohammed 28', 44'
Ojebode 37' (pen.)
Usiyan 90'		 Kabasu 51'
Ekofa 58'
Morocco 2–2 Sudan
Fetoui 1'
Abouali 58'		 Gagarin 9', 79' (pen.)
Morocco 3–1 Nigeria
Faras 8'
Tazi 19'
Chebbak 81'		 Ojebode 81'
Attendance: 4,000
Zaire 1–1 Sudan
Mulamba 41' Gagarin 14'
Attendance: 4,000

Final round

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Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Result
1  Morocco 3 2 1 0 5 3 +2 5 Champions
2  Guinea 3 1 2 0 6 4 +2 4
3  Nigeria 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 3
4  Egypt 3 0 0 3 5 9 −4 0
Source: [citation needed]
Guinea 1–1 Nigeria
Camara 88' Lawal 55'
Attendance: 10,000
Morocco 2–1 Egypt
Faras 23'
Zahraoui 88'		 Abou Rehab 34'
Attendance: 10,000
Guinea 4–2 Egypt
N'Jo Léa 24', 65'
Sultan red-colored football 53' (o.g.)
M. Sylla 62'		 Abdou 33'
El-Seyagui 86'
Attendance: 10,000
Nigeria 3–2 Egypt
Ilerika 35', 62'
Lawal 82'		 El Khatib 7'
Khalil 86'
Attendance: 25,000
Guinea 1–1 Morocco
Souleymane 33' Report Baba 86'
Attendance: 30,000

Goalscorers

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There were 54 goals scored in 18 matches, for an average of 3 goals per match.

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Awards

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Team of the Tournament

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Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Morocco Mohammed Al-Hazaz Morocco Mustapha "Chérif" Fetoui
Egypt Mustafa Younis
Guinea Chérif Souleymane
Guinea Djibril Diara		 Ethiopia Tolde
Egypt Farouk Gaafar
Nigeria Haruna Ilerika
Nigeria Kunle Awesu		 Guinea Petit Sory
Morocco Ahmed Faras

Source:[citation needed]

Final ranking

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Results of countries participating in AFCON 1976
  Champion
  Runner-up
  Third place
  Fourth place
  First round
Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Result
1 B  Morocco 6 4 2 0 11 6 +5 10 Champions
2 A  Guinea 6 3 3 0 11 7 +4 9 Runners-up
3 B  Nigeria 6 3 1 2 11 10 +1 7 Third place
4 A  Egypt 6 1 2 3 9 12 −3 4 Fourth place
5 A  Ethiopia 3 1 1 1 4 3 +1 3 Eliminated in the first round
6 B  Sudan 3 0 2 1 3 4 −1 2
7 B  Zaire 3 0 1 2 3 6 −3 1
8 A  Uganda 3 0 0 3 2 6 −4 0
Source: [citation needed]

References

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  1. ↑ Chowdhury, Tasnim (20 January 2026). "Afcon 2027: When is the next Africa Cup of Nations tournament?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
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